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This chapter is a long series of individual statements, each of these is a "proverb" in and of itself.
The theme of this chapter is comparing the consequences of living a righteous life versus living a wicked life within our speech or words.
For the wise, the tongue is depicted as a fountain of life (v. 11), choice silver (v. 20), and a place where knowledge is stored (v. 14). For the foolish, the tongue is depicted as something that conceals violence (v. 11), spreads slander (v. 18), and invites ruin (v. 14). What comes out of our mouth is evidence of either our wisdom or our foolishness.
Our words matter. Our words have the power to destroy and the power to build up (Proverbs 12:6). The writer of Proverbs tells us, “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit” (Proverbs 18:21). Are we using words to build up people or destroy them?
Words are so important that we are going to give an account of what we say when we stand before the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:36–37).
The most important words we can share is the gospel. Romans 10:17 says “faith comes from hearing”.