Catching Fire: The Power of Our WordsSample

Have you ever seen reality shows like Undercover Boss or Kitchen Nightmares? The whole point of these shows is for someone to go “behind the scenes”—either of an organization or a restaurant—so they can see what’s really going on. Spoiler alert: it usually isn’t great. Behind the scenes, they find all sorts of things that can end up being problematic, potentially catastrophic things that could ruin the company or business if not addressed and dealt with. But, of course, the show doesn’t end with just the bad news. The whole point of the show is to make it right because everyone knows: if things aren’t going well in the back, where not everyone can see what’s happening, it will ultimately show up in the front, where people do see what’s happening.

In these verses, Jesus was talking about a similar principle. What’s going on in the heart can’t help but eventually make its way to the surface. What is hidden comes to light. Our words can only be disconnected from our hearts for so long, and then the heart presents itself in our words and our actions. So, if we want to speak words of life, we need to cultivate hearts and spirits that bring life. And from there, the words will come.