Words

“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” – Matthew 12.33-37

Everyone knows the phrase ‘by their fruits you shall know them.’ Even most people who have never picked up a Bible know that one.

But what does it mean? What kind of fruit are we talking about here?

In this context the passage is all about the fruit of the tongue. You know a man by the words he speaks. It is from the abundance of the heart that our mouths speak. Our words eventually reveal the real us. A good man with a good heart says good things and an evil man with an evil heart says evil things.

Then we see just how important words really are. God says that on the day of judgement that for every wasteful word we speak we will one day have to give account and be justified or condemned.

Now, I realise that Jesus has paid the penalty for our sin, but He has done that for all our sins and it doesn’t mean we go blithely along sinning. The important thing here is to note that the wasteful worse of words is sin and judgeworthy and punishment worthy.

We must be careful with our words. Social media can be a curse or a blessing, but it is a place where we must be careful about out testimony. Our words reveal who we really are.