“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
The fruit referred to by Jesus in this passage is clearly the fruit of our lips – our words. We think of spiritual fruit as our actions only; however, the fruit of our life is more than just our actions as Lord Jesus so forthrightly illustrates here. Out of the abundance of whatever is in our hearts the mouth speaks. Our lips produce what is nurtured in our mind. The words that exit our mouth speak to the condition of our heart. What we say matters. Words count. Sticks and stones might actually break our bones but words do also hurt us. Deeply. Sticks and rocks can bruise the flesh but words have a way of bruising our souls and those bruises are slow to heal. Our words can bring deep injury to those upon whom they are inflicted regardless of how we justify or qualify them. The condition of a tree is revealed by its fruit. The condition of a person is revealed by his words. My deepest regrets in the journey of my life center around careless things spoken and the pain I inflicted on others with my tongue. It is somewhat terrifying to consider that you and I will be judged by our words. They will justify us and condemn us.
May God have mercy. May we speak this mercy to others.
Speak life.
Ventanas 