You Are What You Speak

"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 fort 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 judgement. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."
-Matthew 12:33-37

"The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly;
But the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness.
[...]A wholesome tongue is a tree of life,
But perverseness in it breaks the spirit.
[...]The lips of the wise disperse knowledge,
But the heart of the fool does not do so. [
...]The heart f the righteous studies how to answer,
But the mouth of the wicked pours forth evil."
-Proverbs 15:2,4,7,28

I've spoken before about the power of words, and I will dare say that any pastor worth following has spoken about this subject at some point or another.  The spoken word is one of the most powerful tools that we as people have at our arsenal, and it has been used for evil and for good since the dawn of time.

It was with words that God brought everything into existence.  It was with words that Satan deceived Eve, who used her words to deceive Adam.  It was with words that the Israelitesz condemned themselves to wander in the desert for 40 years and with words that Joshua and Caleb saved themselves from the same fate.  It was with words that Christ performed every miracle and with words the gospel was spread.   It was with words that Hitler rose to power and destroyed millions of lives.  It was with words that every civil rights movement in America began.

Every word is a seed which our lips seek to plant into the world around us.  We cannot take it back once it has been issued.  Forever, it now exists in this world.  Just like Christ spoke of the Good Word, some seed lands on unreceptive ground; some seed takes only shallow roots so that it quickly withers and dies; other seed finds fertile soil, where it blooms to bear fruit.  Have you really thought about what it is you are sowing into not only your life, but the lives of those around you?

The combination of the words and the heart that speaks them determine the purpose of the seed.  As Christ said, a good heart will give forth good seed.  Think of the last word of encouragement you receive.  The last compliment.  The last bit of praise.  What did that give birth to in you?   However, I am sure you can just as easily remember the last hurtful thing said to you; the last insult you received; the last comment spoken to you in hate or anger.

Proverbs says that the wise "uses knowledge rightly."  The Hebrew for the word "rightly" means "to be [or cause to] make well, sound, beautiful."  The connotation here is that the wise uses knowledge for the purpose of enrichment, to take the situation to a better place.  The wise will use their words to help those around them.  Furthermore, it says that the righteous will study how to answer.  The Hebrew for the word "study" here means "to murmur; by implication, to ponder, imagine, meditate."  The righteous will think carefully about how to respond before doing so.  He will consider the impact of what he says and choose the words and tone before speaking.

Christ says that we will be held accountable for every idle word we have spoken.  In this context, idle means inactive, unproductive, barren, useless.  Christ considers our words so important that every one we speak that does nothing is a word that would condemn us, but for His blood.  We so often speak about how people waste their lives doing one thing or another.  How often do we speak of wasted words in that sense? I say we should start.

When Proverbs said that life and death is in the power of the tongue, it was in a very literally sense (18:21).  With every word we speak, we can either raise a thing to life or condemn it to death.  How many dreams have been smashed by words of ridicule and doubt?  How many people have seen their full potential because of words of encouragement and praise?  What we must keep in mind, beloved, is that while every person must choose how to receive words we have spoken, they must receive them.  They have no choice.  Think back to the must hurtful thing you have ever heard in your life.  I'm sure you can even remember the pain you felt when you heard it.   Even if you did not let those words take root in your heart, you still carry them with you as a part of your past.  Your words have the same effect on those around you and yourself.  The greater responsibility is with the one who speaks to guard those things which s/he says.  The recipient of what you say has little choice in whether or not s/he will hear you.  However, you always have the choice in what to say and how to say it.  Whatever it is that you choose, always choose to be that tree of life, bearing nothing but good fruit in the lives of those around you.  For you never know what fruit your words may bear some day.