I am a Jesus pusher!!! Although the focus of anger is the destruction of God’s image, amazingly, it is focused on the tongue’s expression. Jesus mentioned murder and quickly moved to anger. The moment he mentioned anger, He began to speak of the tongue. “And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire” (Matthew 5:22). Jesus highlighted the subject of the tongue repeatedly. It became dominant in His rebuttal of the scribes and Pharisees. When they accused Him of a link with Beelzebub, the ruler of demons, Jesus pointed them to this issue. He concluded that our lives are one big mouth determined to express what our hearts produce (Matthew 12:25-37). We do not search for what we speak because the heart has it in such abundance it is readily available. Even on the final Day of Judgment, what we say will justify or condemn us (Matthew 12:37).
Jesus used the illustration of the fruit of trees: “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruits bad; for a tree is known by its fruit “(Matthew 12:33). The inner nature of the tree determines the fruit, apple trees produce apples. I must merge with the nature of Jesus for my tongue to express His righteousness! I must dwell in Him for my life’s expression to be His image. Self-effort must be redeemed and replaced by His presence! I am a Jesus pusher!!!