Our Hearts & Words
Good Morning,
We all have had those moments when we spoke out of turn, or literally slandered, criticized, or maligned someone. We all desire to guard our tongues (any decent person does not want to hurt another), yet it happens, through recklessness or evil intent. The book of James tells us that “the tongue can no man tame.” The work of controlling the tongue in our mouths is divine. We need the Lord to help us speak properly. To achieve control, we need to begin with the preparation of the heart.
Proverbs 16:1 “The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.”
When our hearts are prepared, God will provide the proper answer in each situation. That which we hear or read will affect us. (That is why millions of dollars are spent on advertising.)
Proverbs 15:28 “The heart of the righteous studieth to answer…"
When we study the right material, the correct answer will naturally follow, whether it be on a classroom test or a casual comment from our tongue.
Matthew 12:33 “Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.”
vs. 34 “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.”
vs. 35 “A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.”
vs. 36 "But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.”
Clearly, our words come from the heart. Dreadfully, we will meet up with those idle words one day when we face the Lord. (vs. 36)
We used to have a grapefruit tree that gave us the worst grapefruit. (Not that I am particularly fond of any grapefruit, but the tree was the issue.) Something in the genetics of this particular tree made it produce bitter fruit. The best thing to do was to get another tree or find a way to change something inside the tree we had. So it is with our words; we need a change of heart inside in order to change the fruit of our lips.
The book of Luke also presents this truth:
Luke 6:45 “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.”
If we will work on what goes into our hearts, we will find sweeter fruit coming out of our lips. Be careful about the friends with whom you choose to spend time and the information you read or hear. The greatest help is to meditate on much Scripture. Read the Bible to your children; read it yourself, and find a good verse to memorize with the family each week. If we work on our hearts, our words and actions will fall into place.
Pastor