Proverb for the Day 12:6 — Sticks & Stones May What?!?!

The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the speech of the upright rescues them

This verse is all about words. It contrasts the speech of two regular characters in Proverbs – “the wicked” and “the upright.”

Admittedly, we don’t expect “the wicked” to say nice things, but this wise saying notes “the words of the wicked lie in wait for blood.” More than just not being nice, they’ll say things for the purpose of “sneaking up” on someone to hurt them (“for blood”).

On the other hand, “the speech of the upright rescues them.” What they say is not hurtful to others and they even say things that can defuse difficult situations.

This wise saying is all about the power of words – for good or bad.

It’s not exactly what my mother told me when I was a child: “Sticks and stone may break my bones, but words will never hurt me!”

While I understand what mom was trying to say, the truth is – many of us grown adults are still stinging from words spoken to us years ago!

But the converse is also true. What many of us are building, accomplishing and achieving today is the direct result of some good words someone said to us.

It’s all true…so, today, get out there and say something good to somebody!