“For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”
Matthew 12:34b (ESV)When you restock a fruit display you pull everything out first, because the fruit at the very bottom has usually gone bad. And rotten fruit does not just sit there; it contaminates everything it touches. That stuck with me from last weekend’s church service.
Jesus says our words work the same way. What is stored in the heart comes out in the mouth. Unresolved pain, unforgiven offenses, buried stress; none of it stays buried. It surfaces in our words, usually aimed at the wrong person, at the worst possible moment.
Craig, 39. Married to Shana for eleven years. Good marriage, real love. But this week his biggest work client is threatening to walk and his boss has been cc-ing the entire leadership team on every correction. Craig has not told Shana any of it. He has been “fine” all week.
🥀 The Flesh
Shana asks him to move a laundry basket. Simple, gentle. Craig loses it in that cold, clipped way that is somehow worse than yelling. “I can’t do anything right around here, can I?” He walks out. She stands there staring at a basket, wondering what she did wrong. The real problem never gets addressed; it just explodes sideways onto the one person who would have actually listened.
The fruit on Craig’s tree? Bitterness, projection, walls.
🌿 The Spirit
He makes it to the kitchen and stops. What was that about? He goes back in. “I’m sorry. That had nothing to do with the basket.” He sits on the dryer lid and tells her about the client, the emails, the week he has been carrying completely alone. She does not try to fix it; she just says, “I wish you’d told me. I’ve been wondering why you seemed so far away.”
The fruit on Craig’s tree? Honesty, intimacy, peace.
The flesh stores pain and calls it strength. The Spirit knows that what you bury does not stay buried; it surfaces in your words, usually to the wrong person at the wrong time. Deal with it at the root.
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