The tongue is the place where letters and linguistics form other people’s perception of who you are and what you stand for.
Matthew 12:33-37
Do you expect to harvest apples from a tomato plant?
What about peaches from a persimmon tree?
One more… What about oranges from an orange tree?
Finally. Yes.
Why?
Because when we look at an orange tree, we expect oranges. Same goes for an apple tree or a tomato plant.
So what makes us think that?
It’s the leaves and branches (or stalks or vines)… they tell us what kind of fruit the tree will produce.
The same goes for how other people view us.
As Christians, God commands us to live a life that imitates Jesus – so that our lives will be a living sacrifice to Him but also our lives will project our faith to others.
So how do we do that?
One of the main ways is through our speech.
Think of words as the leaves on the branches of our lives.
If what you speak is vulgar and peppered with images of the world of sin around us, what would you expect someone to think about you? That you’re pure? That you’re imitating Christ?
The answer is a resounding “No.”
Today’s Tiny Words. Big Life. Bible verse comes from Matthew where Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees, who were once again trying to catch Him doing something that would give them a reason to kill Him.
Jesus had just healed a man with a shriveled hand and it was on the Sabbath, which Jewish law forbid any work to be done. The Pharisees reprimanded Jesus for breaking their man-made and self-serving laws. Jesus in turn reminded them of God’s provision for mercy and showed them for the hypocrites they were. Their words said one thing and their actions said another.
On the subject of hypocrisy, there are many instances in the Bible where Jesus spoke out against it. In this Blogmeister’s opinion, hypocrisy angered Jesus more than almost anything else.
In other words, Jesus expects us to “walk the walk and talk the talk”.
The Tiny Words. Big Life. takeaway is this: Pray that your faith and desire to live a life that imitates Christ governs what comes out of your mouth. Pray to be an example to others of the love of God through His Son, Jesus Christ. Pray and ask for forgiveness when we fail to live up to the standard that God has established.
Meanwhile, back in the garden of life… If you’re ever able to grow a tomato from an apple tree, don’t even bother with telling anyone… because everyone knows that apple trees produce apples and tomato plants produce BLTs!
Matthew 12:33-37
33 “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. 34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. 35 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. 36 But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. 37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”