”A man’s belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; And with the increase of his lips shall he be filled.“
Proverbs 18:20
I have spent over 20 years studying money making, finance, money and business management and have spent tens of thousands of hours working my self to death out in the elements doing hard and dangerous work.
Then, I come across this verse which says you will make money by talking.
What the passage is trying to convey is the idea people do business with people they like.
I once had a Mentor who is a networking genius tell me to stop trying to sell myself to Clients and just be myself. “If you are trying to sell yourself people often wonder what you are hiding. Just open up, be a good people person.”
The passage above seems to indicate we will eat better when we learn how to properly control our tongue… guess what the next verse says…
”Death and life are in the power of the tongue: And they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.“
Proverbs 18:21
A continuation of Proverbs 18:20, as well as a stand alone passage. We see, re-iterated our ability to control our tongue will change our life. This passage takes it to an ultimate end, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue:”
This idea, or collectively, these ideas represented in Proverbs 18:20-21 are a foundation which has been laid out, formed up and made solid. The foundation on which to build is learning when and how to speak to the correct persons correctly.
I was a young man, working hard to build a life for my young family. I found myself attempting to facilitate the sale of a business to an acquaintance. The Owners had met with me several times and we were closing in on making the deal happen. I took the Owners out to eat to discuss some details with the Manager my Acquaintance had chosen to run his interests. I thought things were going well and I started letting my mouth run. 15 minutes later the Owners excused themselves from the table and walked away from the deal.
I had opened up and shown my ignorance.
On other occasions I have ruined deals by not speaking at the correct time, presenting vital information which could have secured a deal. So, it is not always good to be quiet and it is not always good to talk. Being appropriate and saying the right thing at a good time when you have the right knowledge is the way to proceed. It can actually litterally be life or death; not just in business deals but in relationships, in important matters, in court or even in how you present yourself.
The words that you say come from the ideas you have which showcases the person you are building on the inside. In reality, the passages are telling you to work on your heart because your speech will showcase your heart.