Words

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

WORDS

Matt 12:33-37

33 "Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 36 But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned." 

NIV

Jesus is still refuting the charge the Pharisees made that he healed the man who was mute and blind by the power of Satan. Their words are filled with hatred toward him, because their hearts are filled with hatred toward him. This is the whole of his response here. The life lesson we can arrive at here has the same truth. What matters is that which is in our hearts. Of course there are times our words may not match that which brings glory and honor to God. This is specifically true in our interaction with our immediate family members. There are times when we engage in somewhat heated conversations, or some who call it an argument. It is true that all marriages have those moments. If a couple say they have never had an argument, they are far better people then we are, and perhaps even near perfect people. It would seem near impossible for two people to live together mostly all their lives without having a passionate disagreement. But the words spoken are a reflection of what is in the heart. Does that mean that in those moments of anger, our hearts are filled with hatred? How can a heart filled with the Spirit of God also be filled with hatred? That would seem impossible. So then what is the truth of the teaching of Jesus here? Surely the Pharisees thought they were serving the living God, the God that brought them out of Egypt. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The God who created all that was created. But their hearts were filled with hatred toward Jesus. Jesus tells us that we will be known by the fruit we bear, by our words. Although it is true that we do not swear, use foul or vulgar language, we might use some words that do not bring glory and honor to Jesus. Again we must look at the fruit we bear which brings us right to the fruit of the Spirit. Do we bear love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control? It is the self-control thing which might give us the difficultly, especially when we are faced with some disagreement. Yet the whole idea of the bulk of the fruit is that is has no benefit for the tree which it bears. The idea is that the fruit benefits those who can pick it off the tree. People will experience what is in our hearts. If we are not letting the fruit of the spirit come out of our mouths, perhaps it is because it is not in our hearts. However, if we have the fruit of the Spirit stored up in our hearts that is what will come out of our mouths. We will speak words of love, joy and peace. We will speak words of kindness and goodness. We will speak words of faithfulness and patience. We will speak words that are a result of self-control. These words would certainly differ from those that are judgmental, critical and gossip, including a whole bunch of others that are not in line with the Spirit. Words are important because they reflect the heart.