From Abundance

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Luke 6:43-45 “For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

What Is It Speaking to Me?

I love seeing those old movies where a kid says a bad word and the parent makes them walk around with a bar of soap in their mouth, or stand by the sink and scrub their mouth out. It’s a worthy punishment, surely — but to literally follow this verse, they would need to scrub down the heart instead to deal with where the bad words are really coming from. Since open-heart surgery seems a little over-the-top for a “no-no” word, we’re left having to deal with our words ourselves. Because while they leave through the mouth, they come from the heart.

In the spirit of positivity though, good words can come out of our mouths too. These verses speak about both good and bad things—the point is the quality of the source. I find myself fixating on the last part of these verses: “out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” The abundance. Since we’re all imperfect, the flesh can sometimes sneak some bad fruit out of our mouths. The question is...how much? Where is our abundance coming from?

• The Word, God’s grace, the Holy Spirit?

• Political chatter, cultural influences, TV shows, your favorite novelist?

• Your gossip girls, shop-talk buddies, or your school clique?

If we feel the words coming out of our mouths leave something to be desired, at least it’s easy to fix—just change what is abundant in our hearts. Then we’ll know what will come out of our mouths.

What Is It Saying to You?

Examine the fruit of your mouth from the last 24 hours. Is it all good?

Have you noticed any bad fruit?

Where was your abundance during that time?

What Are We Going to Do About It?

Let our words flow from the abundance of the Word and the character of God today. Let that fruit out and see what marvelous things can happen, for you and for those around you when they partake of that fruit.