Thursday, July 11, 2019

Your Speech Reflects Your Heart, Your Heart Reflects Your Faith

Those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart….For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man…” —Matthew 15:18-20

Our old nature does not go away when we are born again, but when we are born again, we no longer have to live in subjection to our old nature.  We have a choice.  But, because it is a choice, we can choose poorly and allow the old nature to dominate us. One of the sure-fire ways that I can tell where a person is spiritually is by listening to what they say and how they say it.

 Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” –  Luke 6:45

In other words, your speech will eventually reveal your heart.  We often make excuses for our old nature.  “That is the way our family is.” “I was just kidding.” Actually, we don’t need to make excuses for our old nature.  It is what it is.  It will never get better.  It can only be replaced with our new nature.  If our heart is yielded to the Lord then what comes out of our mouths will reflect the Spirit. (Read Galatians 5:16-25 to understand the contrast).  Before I was born again, profanity used to be a big part my vocabulary. But God changed all of that.  I suppose that is why I am particularly sensitive to it when I hear Christian men, in particular, using profanity in their conversation. It does not honor God. We must be careful that we are not a stumbling block for other Christians.  I can remember my dad telling me not to smoke cigarettes because they are bad for you as he puffed on his Camel cigarette.  What message was he modeling for me? Guess what. I smoked cigarettes – but God took that away too.

We are all vulnerable to spiritual relapses, but traits of our old nature should not be characteristic of who people think we are, what they have come to expect of us and how we behave toward others and the Lord.  Stop making excuses for what you know is wrong and does not honor God.  Our mission in this life is to reflect Jesus, to glorify God, to proclaim the Gospel by how we, sincerely live out of our lives.

The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble. My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body. Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil”. –  Proverbs 4:18-27

You can’t do that on your own, it is a spiritual quest that you are on and it’s spiritual strength that you need to be successful in that quest.  That is my hope and prayer for you today.

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