Fire Starter

Intro

Matthew 12:35–37 ESV

The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

pray

Our words have great potential to do damage. We must control them from our hearts!

We must understand the power in our words!

Until we understand the potential for harm (and for good) in what we say, we won’t understand the importance of what we choose to say.

read verses 1-8 and use notes in Journaling NT

verse 4

A four wheeler is controlled by a little thumb operated throttle that can create a mess if it isn’t controlled correctly. I got a four wheeler when I was 13… I didn’t control the throttle well and I hung it in a tree!

verse 5

A man in Russia started a forest fire that burned down 5,000 acres. He was fined $20M. He started the fire by dropping a cigarette on the ground.

verses 7-8

show circus attack vid

You have got to understand the tremendous power that you have in the ability to communicate with other people. The damage you can do, or the good you can do. I bet every one of us could pretty quickly think of something someone has said to us or about us that absolutely crushed us. I bet we can also recall something positive someone said to or about us that has had a great impact on us as well.

When we begin to understand this, we will begin to pay more attention and give more thought to what we say. But to use this power of communication in a positive way, we need to understand where our words come from.

What we say comes from the inside to the outside.

Our words, whether actually spoken or texted or posted or just thought to ourselves, come our minds and hearts. They reveal our minds and hearts.

read verses 9-12

If I’ve got a CapriSun and I squeeze it until it pops, what’s going to explode out of it? Dr. Pepper? Milk? Water? No, Capri Sun, because that’s what’s inside of it.

Our words are a reflection of our heart. They reveal our hearts.

Matthew 15:18 ESV

But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.

A heart led by the Spirit will produce more blessing, God honoring words. So what does that look like?

Ephesians 4:15 ESV

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

Ephesians 4:29 ESV

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Ephesians 5:4 ESV

Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.

Colossians 3:8 ESV

But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

This is how God tells us to speak. This is how the heart led by the Spirit speaks. So how do we let the spirit lead our hearts?

We were created in God’s image and part of that is being in community, which involves communication. God spoke and creation happened, but some time after that Satan spoke and sin entered into humanity. But God spoke again to bring redemption to humanity and Jesus said on the cross “It is finished”. His sacrifice for sin was finish. His battle against Satan was won. And he shares that victory with all who put their faith in Him. All who put their faith in Jesus have his Holy Spirit inside them.

We receive forgiveness. We receive righteousness. We receive salvation. Our words and every other part of us are redeemed.

The reason we hurt each other with our words is sin, but the solution is found in Jesus. The cure for the evil things you say is found in Jesus. The healing for the evil things people have said to you and about you is found in Jesus.