Dear Friends,
In my letter last week, I commented that we live in a time when people have a lot of questions about what is actually good and what is not. One thing I want to mention in particular is that it has been widely suggested that how a person speaks to or about others is not important, either because this doesn't reflect what is in that person's heart, or because the end result of the person's actions is all that matters. But Jesus sees things differently. Speaking to a group of power hungry religious leaders who had said, thinking Jesus could not hear, that the devil was behind his miraculous healings, Jesus says,
"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. You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matt. 12:33-37 NIV)
Not only does Jesus say that our words do, in fact, spring from who were are on a heart level, he also says that everyone will ultimately be held accountable for what they have said. When the time comes to stand before the judgment of God, it will be the things we, ourselves, have said that will testify for or against us. What we say does, very much, matter.
This is a little scary to me when I stop and think about the unkind things I have said about people over the years when they are not present to hear them. I don't think I want to stand before God and those I have spoken ill of and be held to account for my judgmentalism, my deluded self-righteousness, my contempt, and my lack of compassion. But one thing I have learned over the years as I have tried to follow Jesus, sometimes succeeding, sometimes failing, and repeatedly getting up to try again, is that Jesus is able to change our hearts. Another is that the heart often follows the mouth just as the mouth follows the heart. If we invite Jesus into our hearts and then begin to pay attention to what we say, keeping quiet when it is better to listen and, when we speak, choosing words that are wise, gentle, true, and full of grace and compassion, we can begin to fill up our hearts with good things and even become a different sort of tree, a healing tree that produces good fruit by it's good nature, the nature of Jesus living within us.
Making a similar point to the one he makes in chapter 12, above, Jesus says in Matt. 15:11 (NIV), "What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them." If this is true, then it is also true that what comes out of our mouths is able to cleanse and heal us. Our words do matter, and they are able to restore and renew our hearts. So let's use them well.
A prayer for today:
Jesus, forgive me for the things I have said both to people's faces and behind their backs that were evil. Come into my heart and make me like a good tree that bears good fruit. Help me to watch over my words so that I speak words that nourish my heart and nourish the hearts of those around me. Amen.
Love in Christ Always,
Michelle
