We are experts at seeing only the good actions in our lives, and overlooking or excusing the bad. It is not what goes into a man that makes him unclean, but what comes out of him.ĭo you want to judge your own character and condition of your heart? Don’t look at your behavior. It is the tongue that sets the body on fire.
It is out of the overflow of the heart that the mouth speaks. There is even a saying we have all heard: “Actions speak louder than words.” I am not necessarily disagreeing with that, but the Bible says that words speak loud enough by themselves.
Most people think actions reveal the heart. If they did, they would be more careful about what they said and how they said it. The things you say, and how you say them expose and unveil the condition and attitudes of your heart. If that is true, it is more true that you are what you say. You’ve heard it said that you are what you eat. He and his wife have five children and make their home in the Twin Cities.III. He is author of three books, Not by Sight, Things Not Seen, and Don’t Follow Your Heart. Jon Bloom ( serves as teacher and cofounder of Desiring God. “And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up” (Acts 20:32). Seek to only speak words that are “good for building up,” that “give grace to those who hear” (Ephesians 4:29). Say something affectionate to a loved one at an unexpected time. Seek opportunities to speak kind, tenderhearted words (Ephesians 4:32). Be “slow to speak” in general (James 1:19). Today, make your mouth “a fountain of life” (Proverbs 10:11). Let us not join him in his “restless evil” (James 3:8).įor “we are from God” (1 John 5:19), and we believe in his Son, Jesus, “the Word” (John 1:1), “the truth and the life” (John 14:6), and who alone has “the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). “The whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19), who “was a murderer from the beginning. And be very careful taking in the words of death in the newspaper, the radio, the TV, or the blog.Īnd pray: “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth keep watch over the door of my lips!” (Psalm 141:3). Soak in Matthew 5, or Romans 12, or 1 Corinthians 13, or Philippians 2. So fill your heart with grace by soaking in your Bible. A trusting heart produces an encouraging tongue. A peaceful heart produces a reconciling tongue. A faithful heart produces a truthful tongue.
“The words you speak will all depend on what’s filling your heart.”īut a loving heart produces a gracious tongue. An ungrateful heart produces a grumbling tongue. A bitter heart produces an acerbic tongue. A self-righteous heart produces a judgmental tongue. A critical heart produces a critical tongue. Jesus said, “Out of the abundance of the heart mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). It will all depend on what’s filling your heart. So what will come out of your mouth today, death or life? “Sword thrusts” or “healing” (Proverbs 12:18)? What Fills Your Heart? Tongues can give hope to the despairing, advance understanding, and spread the gospel. Tongues can make marriages sweet, families strong, and churches healthy. “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Matthew 5:9). Tongues reconcile peoples and make peace. The tongue can be “a tree of life” (Proverbs 15:4). Tongues can also be the death of marriages, families, friendships, churches, careers, hopes, understanding, reputations, missionary efforts, and governments.īut people also live because of something said. Tongues can be weapons of mass destruction, launching holocausts and wars. In literate societies, tongues include hands that write, type, paint, or sign. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21).
0 kommentar(er)
