“No good water comes from a muddy stream, no sweet fruit comes from a bitter seed! “
( Jose Rizal)

“Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water?” (James 3:11)

  One of the things that I remember in my mind very vividly, echoing through the halls of my memory, is a statement my mother used to say quite often. It went something like this. “Elizabeth Faye, if I ever hear you say anything like that again, I’m going to wash your mouth out with soap.” Have any of you heard that? I thought so. *smile* I don’t know that that’s being said much today. I’m not sure that anybody is drawing lines as to what is acceptable speech and what isn’t, at least in the way they did when I was a kid. But in our family, any bad words that came out of my mouth or one of my siblings, my mother was likely to threaten to wash our mouth out with soap. I can’t remember her ever doing it but she sure made me believe that she would. And I have to honest with you, a lot of times I’ve wished I could wash some mouths out with soap. Giving praise to God today and tomorrow cursing a brother or sister….. bitter and sweet waters coming outta’ the same fountain (mouth). I seriously believe some times we oughta’ wash out our own mouths with the washing (soap) of the word. Jesus says that you will be justified by your speech or you will be condemned by your speech. In other words, your speech is such a revealer of your heart that based upon the way you talk, your eternal destiny can be determined. The tongue provides the evidence of what your heart really is from out of the heart the mouth speaks. “ But the words you speak come from the heart–that’s what defiles you.” (Matthew 15:18)

  Christians talk differently than other people talk (or should), not perfect, but certainly different. Listen to what the apostle Paul said in Colossians, “If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” If we’re truly new in Christ, we will have a pure speech. “Now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.” Put them all away; they have no place in the life of a believer. “Do not lie to one another” that’s another kind of illicit speech “since you have laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the one who created him.”

Bitter and sweet, how can that be…..glorify God today and tomorrow gossip about me!