This is another article written by my wife Bessie.
“For out of the overflow of his heart the mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45)
These are the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. This statement meets with stiff resistance from children and adults alike. We do not want to be held responsible for what comes from our mouths.
“I was tired, so I said what I said. I didn’t mean it.”
“I was angry…”
“I was hurt…”
“I was only kidding…”
These are all excuses and inadmissible in the light of what Jesus said. When we look at the context, it is even more devastating. Jesus said, “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart” (Luke 6:45).
We would like to think that two streams of words can proceed from a single source. James, in his letter, denies this by a rhetorical question. “Out of the same mouth came praise and cursing. My brother, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?” (James 3:10-11).
We expend much useless energy trying by self-control to put a lid on our words, or we try to camouflage our words to protect our spiritual image. If these two efforts fail and the words escape, then we try to deny what we said.
What is the solution? I have found that I must first admit to God my responsibility for what I have said and recognize the polluted source. I have His promise in 1 John 1:9 that “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
“But,” you may say, “I can control what I say with everybody but my husband (wife or children), and do you mean that my heart is judged evil with one person when I get along so well with others?”
Don’t you see that these are the people with whom we have an emotional attachment, a closeness, an intimacy where politeness cannot control us? These are the people who know us best, who know us as we really are.
This is the area most under attack by our enemy, for if we are defeated at home, we are not victorious anywhere. We are relaxed at home, unaware that the spiritual warfare is there as well, and we should not give up our spiritual armor as we enter our homes. Armor is only useful when we are “strong in the Lord and in the power of his might” (Ephesians 6:10).
Let our prayer be, “Create in me a pure heart, O God” (Psalm 51:10).
“For out of the overflow of his heart the mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45)
These are the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. This statement meets with stiff resistance from children and adults alike. We do not want to be held responsible for what comes from our mouths.
“I was tired, so I said what I said. I didn’t mean it.”
“I was angry…”
“I was hurt…”
“I was only kidding…”
These are all excuses and inadmissible in the light of what Jesus said. When we look at the context, it is even more devastating. Jesus said, “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart” (Luke 6:45).
We would like to think that two streams of words can proceed from a single source. James, in his letter, denies this by a rhetorical question. “Out of the same mouth came praise and cursing. My brother, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?” (James 3:10-11).
We expend much useless energy trying by self-control to put a lid on our words, or we try to camouflage our words to protect our spiritual image. If these two efforts fail and the words escape, then we try to deny what we said.
What is the solution? I have found that I must first admit to God my responsibility for what I have said and recognize the polluted source. I have His promise in 1 John 1:9 that “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
“But,” you may say, “I can control what I say with everybody but my husband (wife or children), and do you mean that my heart is judged evil with one person when I get along so well with others?”
Don’t you see that these are the people with whom we have an emotional attachment, a closeness, an intimacy where politeness cannot control us? These are the people who know us best, who know us as we really are.
This is the area most under attack by our enemy, for if we are defeated at home, we are not victorious anywhere. We are relaxed at home, unaware that the spiritual warfare is there as well, and we should not give up our spiritual armor as we enter our homes. Armor is only useful when we are “strong in the Lord and in the power of his might” (Ephesians 6:10).
Let our prayer be, “Create in me a pure heart, O God” (Psalm 51:10).
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