CHECK DEEPER THAN YOUR SPEECH – The Daily Recharge

During episode 9 of the SHIFT podcast, I said:

2024 is the year to check your speech.

It’s your appointed time to conduct a word analysis. Think about what you’re saying more intentionally, and make sure your words align with the Word of God.

That podcast episode was an alley-oop to this blog post. By design, you can’t check your speech alone. If you really want to inspect your speech, you must look beyond your mouth.

Here’s the reality. Your mouth is only an amplifier. It’s not the source of your communication.

Where do our words originate? Great question, and thankfully, Lord Jesus already answered it:

A healthy tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a poor tree bear good fruit. Every tree is known by the fruit it bears; you do not pick figs from thorn bushes or gather grapes from bramble bushes. A good person brings good out of the treasure of good things in his heart; a bad person brings bad out of his treasure of bad things. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of (Luke 6:43 – 45, GNT).

His answer was full of wisdom. First, He identified the source of our words: the heart (our innermost being). Lord Jesus also revealed a pattern we can follow to modify our words, especially when we experience adverse outcomes.

Look: The first step of the pattern is looking at the fruit, or the visible outcomes we have experienced. If they’re bad, then the tree (i.e., the person) is not healthy (within). If they’re good, then you’re likely on the right path.

Locate: Lord Jesus shared that we identify trees by their fruit. Figuratively speaking, outward behavior reveals what’s inside of a person. If the behavior needs to change, then the root fueling it must be located and addressed.

Leverage: Here’s where the Word of God is handy. Our heart (innermost being) is like soil. Once we locate and remove the undesired root(s), we can plant truth, found in the Word of God, and produce different outcomes.

As always, here are some practical ways to employ the pattern we discussed:

Look: What outcomes are you currently experiencing? At your job? In your relationships? Financially? In your spiritual life? Are they good or bad?

Locate: If your outcomes are undesirable, where did they come from? What’s the root? What belief have you upheld that has produced these outcomes? When did it start? How has not addressing it impacted your quality of life?

Leverage: What has God said about your experience(s)? To you personally via the Holy Spriit? In the written Word of God? How does this truth give you a renewed perspective on your experience(s)?

Now, you have some digging to do. Ready? Set? Grow!

If you need further guidance on using this pattern, I’d love to connect with you. Reach out to me at info@induranceministries.com, and let’s dive deeper into the root issues being amplified through your mouth.