“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. You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. 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 12:33-37, NASB)
More words from Jesus, this time from the Apostle Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus had just healed a demon possessed man who was deaf and dumb. While some witnesses wondered if Jesus could be the Messiah, a group of Pharisees muttered, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.” (Matthew 12:24) Jesus proceeded to lecture them, and the passage above is part of that sermon.
Jesus begins by drawing a comparison between good fruit, which comes from good trees, and bad fruit from bad trees, “for the tree is known by its fruit.” Jesus then tells them that they can’t possibly speak what’s good, since they’re evil. “For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.” Apparently there is a connection between the heart and the mouth. The mouth speaks what is in/on our hearts. This is why the Bible says that we should guard our hearts, because the tongue is difficult to tame.
Jesus concludes with why it’s important to guard our hearts and watch what we say: “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.” Therefore, we should all strive to be good trees, and bare good fruit!