What Is In Your Heart?

Out of the abundance of your heart the mouth speaks. ---Matthew 12:34

How many times have we said something we regret and wish we had never said it? I know I have. It is like some other person is speaking and you become embarrassed because it came out of YOUR mouth! When Jesus was chastising the “religious” Pharasees, He was telling them that their hearts were not very clean! They were saying things and yelling accusations that were indicating what was really in their hearts. I know that disturbed Jesus greatly because these men were representing His Father and were highly regarded.

I had a pastor once that was giving a children’s sermon that I never forgot. He had a tube of toothpaste in his hand. He was talking about words that come out of our mouths and once out, they can’t be taken back. It is like a tube of toothpaste. Once you squeeze the toothpaste out, you can’t put it back in the tube.

In Matthew 12, Jesus is really addressing the fact that our words will locate where our heart is. He said the heart of a good man will bring forth good things and the heart of an evil man will bring forth evil things. Let me ask you this. When you are squeezed with a situation that provokes a reaction, are you going to release good or evil out of your mouth? If you regret what you said, that is the Holy Spirit convicting you of the fact that your reaction was evil. Then do a self analysis to find out where that reaction came from.

If your desire is to please the Lord and you really want to change, then do the following. First, repent and ask God to forgive you for bearing bad fruit. Second, tell Him you want to bear good fruit from your heart, but don’t know how to make that happen. Third, give Him permission to do a work in your life that will make you a good fruit bearer. Then lastly, thank Him for making you into the person He has destined you to be. Thank Him for your change in heart.

Confession: I know that the words I speak or how I react can be unpleasant and evil. But I thank God for His mercy and the fact that He desires to help me become the person He has destined me to be.