… but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit. // As long as I have life within me, the breath of God in my nostrils, my lips will not say anything wicked, and my tongue will not utter lies.

Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. // Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up. // Let us, therefore, make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God.

So even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of it.

“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.

The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. // Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

Pr 15:4a: Pr 15:4b, Jo 27:3-4; Pr 16:24, Pr 12:25, Ro 14:19-20; 2Co 10:8; 1 Co 10:23-24; Is 50:4, 1Th 5:11

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