“A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” (Luke 6:45)
“You are being so selfish! Can you think of someone other than yourself?”
“Why doesn’t anyone else seem to care that our house is trashed? If everyone would just pick up their own stuff I wouldn’t be so tired all the time!”
“Stop making that screeching sounds! and turn down the video game! And pick up your dishes and take them to the kitchen.”
Uh. . . Yeah. Those are my words. Not very polite, are they? I said them politely the first five times, but then I started to seethe and said nothing, and then, as I couldn’t walk through my house without stepping on a Lego or a Hot Wheel car I became much less patient.
This scripture reminds us “The mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” In other words, there is really no getting around the fact that the real us will always be revealed–eventually. We can say, “Oh, I didn’t mean to say that,” or “The way I said that wasn’t nice. I will try to put it another way.” We can blame it on our illness: “You know these meds always make me moody,” or “I am in so much pain I don’t even know what I am saying anymore.” But regardless, our heart comes out of our mouth.
It takes patience to stop before we speak and think of the best way to say things. And none of us are perfect, There will likely always be times when we need to seek forgiveness because of our words. Yet, if we are immersed in the Word, in conversation with God–molding our heart to be more Christ-like, this will naturally flow out. We won’t have to put so much effort into watching every single word that we say, because our heart will be a filter for some of it before we even begin to be aware of what we are planning to say.
Prayer: God, so often I fail to reflect You when I am dealing with the people I love the most. There are times even a total stranger says something to me and I have to be careful that I don’t say what I am thinking, such as a response laced with sarcasm. But if my heart is fully Yours, if I am spending time with You, I shouldn’t even be thinking the wrong thing in my heart or my head. Teach me to reflect You.
About the author:
Lisa Copen is the founder of Rest Ministries and she lives in San Diego with her husband and son. She is gradually learning how to balance motherhood, family, illness, and ministry, but she still knows it will be a lifetime lesson. You can see the books she has written, including, Why Can’t I Make People Understand? at the Rest Ministries shop.
You can now read this on your Kindle. Find out more at http://TodaysDevotionOnKindle.com
How have you experienced, or witnessed someone else, communicating a true loving heart even though the situation may have warranted a negative response? When you hear the words coming out of your mouth at moments of frustration, how do you deal with it? Do you ask for forgiveness, offer flimsy excuses, go to God in prayer?
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