An Overflow of Blessing

“For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of” (Matt. 12:34, NIV).

Last week, we took a look together at the astounding power residing in our tongue. As we surrender ourselves to the Holy Spirit as His channels, a river of blessing can surge through us. As it does, our words can literally make things around us come alive.

We find the connection between this water source (our mouth)…

“Praising and wrong words come out of the same mouth! My brothers, this should not be so. Do good water and bad water both come from the same place?” (James 3:10-11, WE).

…and this water source (the Holy Spirit):

“Wherever the river goes, everything will be restored and able to live” (Ez. 47:9, CJB).

As you and I well know, there are individuals in our lives who are stuck in unhealthy patterns. When we speak blessings over them, we have the enormous privilege of releasing God’s life into them. We get to be His agents of transformation through the words of our mouths. This is exactly what God was doing when He called terrified Gideon “Mighty man of valor” (Judges 6:12, NKJV), and volatile Simon, “the Rock” (Matt. 16:18). Gideon and Simon grew into the words spoken over them.

In practical application, this can be quite challenging! Often we feel like doing quite the opposite. What happens when we are faced day after day after day with highly unpleasant behavior from that aforementioned someone? What is the first thing that wants to shoot off of our tongues? Venting our frustration is a normal human response to such situations. After all, our mouths want to give expression to whatever emotion is going on inside of us.

Jesus Himself described this aspect of how God built us: “For from the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matt. 12:34, TLV). Whatever is on the inside is going to come out. If we tend to get angry frequently, angry words will frequently come flying out. If we are habitually high strung, nervous and shrill words will find their way off our tongues regularly. If we are instead cultivating a lifestyle of growth in the peace of God, peaceful words will be more likely to predominate our speaking patterns. Whatever it is in there on the inside, anyone will be able to tell by the words we habitually release into the atmosphere.

So, back to the idea of becoming channels of blessing. Do we want Holy Spirit to use us as agents of transformation in the lives of people who are difficult to love? If so, the process is not going to start with our mouths. The vocal apparatus itself is not where He needs to generate words of blessing for the world around us. Instead, it’s our very hearts where He needs to go to work. It’s the core of our being where it all begins.

Who is that challenging person in your life? Have you begun to habitually pray blessings over them, during your quiet times? Have you asked the Father to share with you the love He has for that individual?

Believe me, I get how hard this is.

But NOTHING will be impossible with God! As we invite Holy Spirit to do His supernatural work in our heart of hearts, He will change the contents therein. He (and only He) can take intense frustration and exchange it for supernatural love, forgiveness, and blessing.

When He does that, the new contents of our hearts are going to show up in its overflow. Love, forgiveness, and blessing are going to spill out in the words we habitually express. What a beautiful day it will be when the following verse becomes the description of our speech patterns! “Wherever the river goes, everything will be restored and able to live” (Ez. 47:9, CJB).

*****************

When God said, “No human being can tame the tongue” (James 3:8), did He mean for us to give up trying?