EVERY CARELESS WORD? fOR REAL?

February 9, 2010

EVERY CARELESS WORD? fOR REAL?

Matthew 12:33-37

Shelbi Polk

Central Truth

Our actions and our words do not in any way determine our salvation. They simply provide a tangible proof of our faith. If we truly love Christ with all our hearts and listen to the Spirit in us, we will want to produce "good fruit."

"But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." (Matthew 12:36-37)

A Tree Is Known by Its Fruit

33 Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. 36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

I'm not gonna lie. This passage really got to me. My first thought when I read it was, "EVERY careless word? For real?" (See my Traveler's Log title.) Because I'm generally a very sarcastic person, my alarm should be understandable. And then I got to the part about my words condemning me or justifying me.

Remembering that our faith IS NOT about works or words made me feel a lot better. Paul says in Ephesians 2:8-9, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast."

But all of this can be a little confusing. No, our good deeds or lack of them do not determine where we go when we die. But what we believe will absolutely, necessarily, irrefutably motivate every single one of our actions (or words). If we have truly given our hearts to Christ, then as "the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart" (Matthew 12:34), every little thing we do will be filled with Christ and His love. This is the "fruit" discussed in verse 33.

An active faith with complete trust in God cannot be without works. To quote James 2:18, “But someone may well say, 'You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.'” Now don't get me wrong. We are all human. We will mess up at some point or another. Most likely, we will mess up many times at many points. But this passage is talking about the sum of our actions. In general, are we characterized by Christ's love and the fruit of the Spirit? Or, do we consistently let ourselves be ruled by our own selfish desires, thereby producing "bad fruit"? Questions to ponder.

1. Am I producing more "bad fruit" or "good fruit"? Maybe a little hard to quantify, I know; but it deserves examination in each of our lives if we wish to be fully devoted followers of Christ.

2. If someone else was asked Question 1 about me, would their answer match mine? This one might take some actual asking to get a good answer.

3. What specific areas of my life aren't up to par on the whole "good fruit" thing? And how can I address those specifically?

FAMILY DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. What does it mean to produce spiritual fruit? (Galatians 5:22-23)

2. What kind of fruit are you producing?

3. What helps you produce good fruit?