There is an old saying that states “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me”. Whoever started that saying I am sure had good intentions to not let someone else’s words harm them. However, our own words can do more damage to ourselves than anyone else’s.
33 “If you grow a healthy tree, you’ll pick healthy fruit. If you grow a diseased tree, you’ll pick worm-eaten fruit. The fruit tells you about the tree.
34-37 “You have minds like a snake pit! How do you suppose what you say is worth anything when you are so foul-minded? It’s your heart, not the dictionary, that gives meaning to your words. A good person produces good deeds and words season after season. An evil person is a blight on the orchard. Let me tell you something: Every one of these careless words is going to come back to haunt you. There will be a time of Reckoning. Words are powerful; take them seriously. Words can be your salvation. Words can also be your damnation.”
Jesus had just healed a man and was accused by some religious scholars of doing this by black magic. Jesus quickly warned them to be careful about those accusations. He told them that a tree is recognizable by its fruits and that their word’s were what had the potential to save or destroy them.
When we speak, we speak from our hearts. The words that we say are a merely a heart gauge of what’s within. In order to have the right words come out we must put the right words within. We must fill our hearts with God’s Word and protect our hearts from the things that would try to take that Word out.
The Bible says out of the heart flow the issues of life. In other words what we sow into our heart are like seeds that will grow into crops. These crops are what we will harvest for our food. That harvested food is what we will eat for the rest of our lives. They are also what we will have to share with all those we encounter through life’s journey.
When we speak we should look at our words as our crops. We can share nourishing, wholesome and delicious food with ourselves and neighbors or rotten, stinking or poisonous food. Bitterness, anger, resentment, jealousy and other negative words sown into our hearts produce rotten crops. Those seeds sown produce a harvest that’s not nourishing for spirit, soul or body. However when we sow seeds of love, forgiveness and mercy they not only nourish our spirit, soul and body, they can provide healthy nourishment for others as well.
We all are farmers in a way and are sowing seeds or words every day. Whatever we sow and allow to grow, will end up being the influences in our daily decisions. Without the truth of God’s Word sown into our hearts we are subject to every wind of change or new idea that comes along.
The Bible says that God’s Word is health to all our flesh and also states that from the heart will flow the issues of life. (Proverbs 4:22-23 (KJV) ) Not just any words produce health and what we sow into our hearts will be what’s flowing or what will answer those issues of life we encounter. Think about that, what issues of life do we have? Are there better issues or things we would like to have? Wouldn’t we rather have God’s promises of health, peace and prosperity flowing to see His word in action in our lives.
The Bible says not to let His Word depart from our eyes. We are to attend to His Word, incline, not depart from and finally to keep His Word in our hearts. We must read His Word, attend, really give ear or focus on and adhere to His Words. If we keep reading daily and reminding ourselves on a daily basis of His promises, His Word will stay in our hearts.
When we sow God’s Word into our hearts the Word will flow out and resolve or answer the issues we have in our lives. So let’s be diligent farmers of God’s Word. Let’s sow it every day, watch over and protect it and God’s Word will produce a harvest for our whole man, spirit soul and body! Then when we speak, from the abundance of our hearts, a bountiful, nourishing harvest will go out and feed all of those around us!