Matthew 12:30-37: a reflection

30“He who is not with me is against me, and he who doesn’t gather with me, scatters. 31Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. 32Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age, or in that which is to come. 33“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree corrupt and its fruit corrupt; for the tree is known by its fruit. 34You offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. 35The good man out of his good treasure brings out good things, and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings out evil things. 36I tell you that every idle word that men speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. 37For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Jesus makes a direct connection between the heart and the mouth: the tree is known by its fruit, he says; and out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. The good person brings good out of a good treasure, and the evil person evil out of an evil treasure. Our words, in other words, are not disconnected from who we are; they are the overflow of what fills the heart. What comes out of the mouth reveals what is stored up within.

Notice the diagnostic Jesus offers. If you want to know what is really in a heart, listen to what overflows from it in unguarded speech, the careless comment, the reflexive reaction, the thing said when off guard. The mouth speaks from the heart's abundance; what fills us within will come out. That is why Jesus can say the tree is known by its fruit, and why he warns that we will give account even for our careless words. They are not trivial; they reveal us.

That reframes how to deal with our speech. We often try to manage the mouth, to watch our words, and that has its place. But Jesus points deeper: the real issue is the heart, the treasure from which the words flow. If bitter, careless, or unkind words keep overflowing, the deeper work is not just biting the tongue but tending the heart, letting God fill it with a different treasure. Listen honestly to what overflows from you, and let it show you your heart. Then bring the heart to God, so that what fills it, and so what overflows, is good.

Lord, my words overflow from my heart's abundance and reveal what is really in me. When bitter, careless, or unkind words keep coming out, show me my heart. Do the deeper work in me, not just guarding my tongue but tending the treasure of my heart, filling it with good, so that what overflows from me is good. Make my heart, and so my words, pleasing to you.