Scripture says that what's in our hearts comes out of our mouths.
But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart and this defiles a person. (Matthew 15:18)
For the man speaks what his heart is full of. (Luke 6:45)
For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. (Matthew 12:34)
I am reminded of this each time I am tempted to say "I didn't mean it," and each time someone tells me "I didn't mean it."According to Scripture, what's in our hearts is what comes out of our mouths. If we are honest, I mean absolutely honest, we will admit that in the moment we most certainly DID mean what we said. What we're really saying when we say, "I didn't mean it," is NOT that we didn't mean what we said, but rather we didn't mean to actually say it.
One of my favorite illustrations of this is a story about a guy who went fishing with a preacher. The guy snagged his finger on a hook and let out a string of expletives. Clearly embarrassed, he said "Oh preacher, I am so sorry!"to which the preacher replied, "It's okay. If it wasn't in you, it wouldn't come out."
I just love that word picture.
Our thoughts, both good and bad, affect our feelings, and the combination is what is stored up in our hearts.
You know this.
Have you ever been angry with someone? The more you thought about what it is that made you angry, the angrier you got, right?
Same with sadness…the more you think about the thing that made you sad, the sadder you get.
So can we change what's in our hearts? By being obedient to God’s Word, we can start the process, but the Holy Spirit does the real work. Truth is, what you feed, grows. If you feed your negative thoughts, negative feelings will grow… so our “job” is to feed good thoughts.
Scripture says:
Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable if anything is excellent or praise-worthy think about such things. (Philippians 4:8)
It seems that if we fill our thoughts with good things about people, places, and events, our hearts will be filled with good things as well.
Just my thoughts...
K
But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart and this defiles a person. (Matthew 15:18)
For the man speaks what his heart is full of. (Luke 6:45)
For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. (Matthew 12:34)
I am reminded of this each time I am tempted to say "I didn't mean it," and each time someone tells me "I didn't mean it."According to Scripture, what's in our hearts is what comes out of our mouths. If we are honest, I mean absolutely honest, we will admit that in the moment we most certainly DID mean what we said. What we're really saying when we say, "I didn't mean it," is NOT that we didn't mean what we said, but rather we didn't mean to actually say it.
One of my favorite illustrations of this is a story about a guy who went fishing with a preacher. The guy snagged his finger on a hook and let out a string of expletives. Clearly embarrassed, he said "Oh preacher, I am so sorry!"to which the preacher replied, "It's okay. If it wasn't in you, it wouldn't come out."
I just love that word picture.
Our thoughts, both good and bad, affect our feelings, and the combination is what is stored up in our hearts.
You know this.
Have you ever been angry with someone? The more you thought about what it is that made you angry, the angrier you got, right?
Same with sadness…the more you think about the thing that made you sad, the sadder you get.
So can we change what's in our hearts? By being obedient to God’s Word, we can start the process, but the Holy Spirit does the real work. Truth is, what you feed, grows. If you feed your negative thoughts, negative feelings will grow… so our “job” is to feed good thoughts.
Scripture says:
Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable if anything is excellent or praise-worthy think about such things. (Philippians 4:8)
It seems that if we fill our thoughts with good things about people, places, and events, our hearts will be filled with good things as well.
Just my thoughts...
K
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