Today's devotional comes to us from Matthew chapter 12. Let's begin by reading the passage, as always. At that time, Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, look, your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath. He replied, have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God. And he and his companions ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for them to eat, but only for the priests. Or haven't you read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and yet are innocent? But I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. If only you had known the meaning of, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would have not condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. Moving on from there, Jesus entered their synagogue and a man with a withered hand was there. In order to accuse Jesus, they asked him, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? He replied, if one of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a man than a sheep? Therefore, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. Then Jesus said to the man, stretch out your hand. So he stretched it out, and it was restored to full use, just like the other. But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus. Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. Large crowds followed him, and he healed them all, warning them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah. Here is my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul delights. I will put my spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. He will not quarrel or cry out. No one will hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break. and a smoldering wick he will not extinguish, till he leads justice to victory. In his name the nations will put their hope. Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and he healed the man so that he could speak and see. The crowds were astounded and asked, Could this be the son of David? But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, does this man drive out demons? Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive them out? So then they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man's house and steal his possessions? Unless he first ties up the strong man, then he can plunder his house. He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the one to come. 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 known by its fruit. You brood of vipers. How can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. A good man brings good things out of his good store of treasure. And the evil man brings evil things out of his evil store of treasure. But I tell you that men will give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words, you will be acquitted. And by your words, you will be condemned. Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, teacher, we want to see a sign from you. Jesus replied, a wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand at the judgment with this generation and condemn it. For they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it. For she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and now one greater than Solomon is here. When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it passes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, I will return to the house I left. On its return, it finds the house vacant, swept clean, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself. They go in and dwell there, and the final plight of that man is worse than the first. So it will be with this wicked generation." While Jesus was still speaking to the crowds, His mother and brothers stood outside wanting to speak to Him. Someone told him, look, your mother and brothers are standing outside wanting to speak to you. But Jesus replied, who is my mother and who are my brothers? Pointing to his disciples, he said, here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother. And this is God's Word. Now, here's my devotional from this passage, Matthew chapter 12. Does it really matter what you say? How often do people say things that are mean, unkind, and hurtful, and then follow them with the words, I didn't really mean it? How often do people use words that are crass, crude, rude, condescending, demeaning, and even untruthful? But we give them, or ourselves, a pass by saying, I was just letting off steam, or she's really a nice person, but just has a temper. I think that many Christians today think sins of speech are less of a problem than other kinds of sins. But Jesus said otherwise. Words were very important to him because they reveal what's in a person's heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man speaks good things out of the goods stored up in him, and an evil man brings up evil things out of the evils stored up in him, according to verses 34c and 35. In context, Jesus was addressing the sins of the Pharisees by saying that Jesus drives out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, as they said in verse 24. In our culture, someone who heard that might just say, well, they're just jealous, or give some other excuse for what the Pharisees said. To Jesus, however, the way the Pharisees tried to explain away his miracles was a statement of faith, an expression of their beliefs about Jesus, or rather, their unbelief about who Jesus is. Words are not empty in God's sight. Not at all. They are the basis on which either you will be acquitted or condemned when you stand before God in judgment, according to verses 36 and 37. Evil words, untruthful words, harsh words, unkind or unbelieving words, all reveal what you really think. The ideas that you mull over in your heart come out with your words. Your words let others see what's inside your mind. They reveal what conclusions you've come to in your heart. They show what's important to you and what's valuable to you. They demonstrate how little or how much you value God and other people. Each human being will be judged by his or her words. Yet Jesus' prescription for an evil mouth was not just to watch what you say. Instead, Jesus said, In other words, since what you say comes from your heart, the only way to cleanse your speech is to clean up your heart. Jesus came not only to atone for and forgive our sins of speech, but also to change our hearts so that the words we speak are true, kind, loving, gentle, and good. As you grow in your faith in Christ, your words should reflect it. So how are your speech patterns? Do your words fit with your profession of faith as a Christian? Or do they reveal a heart that's filled with, or at least still struggling with, sin? Ask God for the grace to speak words that are pleasing to him. Ask him to help you grow and to cleanse your heart so that whether a believer or an unbeliever speaks with you, he or she will see the life-transforming work that God's Holy Spirit is doing in your life. And fill your heart with good things, with godly truth and the Word of God itself. As your heart is purified, your words will be better. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. As we saw in verse 34. One more thing. Some of the most powerful words in the English language are the words, I'm sorry. Will you forgive me? Will you forgive me for what I said to you or said about you? Is there someone in your life who needs to hear those words from you today? That would be an excellent way to begin your application of this passage of Scripture. I hope you have a great day, and I'll see you in the next devotional.