The Overflow

UV 3639/10000 The Overflow The good man brings good out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. Luke 6 v 43 Jesus distinguishes people in this uni-verse based on what they speak. The good and the evil distinguish themselves by the good or evil they speak. The good or evil they speak is again dependent on the good or evil they store in their hearts. Whatever good or evil we speak is from the overflow of our hearts. The word of God also says that the human heart is incurably evil and deceptive. Only the Word can cure us of the incurable. Only the Holy Spirit can use the Word to cure our hearts of evil such that we speak only good from the overflow of the word stored in our hearts. The Psalmist David also wrote that he stored the word in his heart that it would keep him from evil or sinning against God and man. The word is the sword or sharp double edged weapon to cut or circumcise our hearts of the superfluous, the unnecessary, the irrelevant to godly speaking and living. We need to constantly use it under the expert guidance of the Holy Spirit who alone can peer into the storehouse of our hearts. The Holy Spirit will non-invasively and painlessly use the Word to cut out the evil stored in our hearts and prune the good that it bears the fruit of the spirit of love, joy and peace. The Word will excise the evil embedded in our hearts. It will teach us to be concise and not speak an extra word. Our words will be measured against the high standard set by Jesus and are a reflection of what we have stored in our hearts over time. The Lord measures the quality of our communication and not the quantitative aspect of how much we speak or how well we speak. No wonder St James, the natural brother of Jesus laid emphasis on controlling the tongue like a rudder of a boat. He wrote that if we control the flow from our tongues to be wholesome and not harmful, we are deemed perfect. The nine fruit of the spirit should constantly overflow like an eternal spring that has its source in our hearts. Our words should constantly reflect one or other of the nine qualities of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self control. Together these qualities constitute spiritual wisdom that should characterize a good man, a man who believes and follows Jesus. We should cut out any words or attitudes that strike a discordant or jarring note that goes against the grain of these nine qualities.