Pastor’s Corner: “Heart to Mouth”
Luke 6:45 (NIV) – 45 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.
When a potter bakes a pot, he or she checks its solidity by pulling it out of the oven and thumping it. If it “sings,” it’s ready. If it “thuds,” it’s placed back in the oven.
The character of a person is also checked by thumping. Been thumped lately? Late-night phone calls. Grouchy teachers. Grumpy moms. Burnt meals. Flat tires. You’ve-got-to-be-kidding deadlines. Those are thumps. Thumps are those irritating inconveniences that trigger the worst in us. They catch us off guard. They aren’t big enough to be crises, but if you get enough of them, watch out! Traffic jams. Long lines. Dirty clothes on the floor. Even as I write this, I’m being thumped. Because of interruptions, it has taken me almost two hours to write these first two paragraphs. Thump. Thump. Thump.
How do we respond? Do we sing? Or do we thud? The words we speak really matter. Every word we speak can either be a brick to build or a bulldozer to destroy. Whatever is stored up in your heart will sooner or later be expressed by your words. Be careful what you look at, read and think about. Fill your heart with good things and you will think good thoughts, speak good words and bear good fruit.
Honestly, the real problem isn’t in the speaking. The problem is in the storing. Luke 6:45 (NIV) – 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. The loose translation: You are going to speak what you have stored. If you store up resentment toward someone, it may come tumbling out one day in angry words. If you store up bitterness about a past hurt, you might find yourself suddenly spilling caustic criticism. If you store up un-forgiveness in your heart, it may bubble to the surface and show up in unkind speech. You are going to speak what you have stored. To reduce the chances of spilling out bitter and poisonous words, we need to continually go to God and ask Him to reveal any destructive feelings lurking in the dark corners of our hearts (these come out with thumping). Surrendering these corrosive and unhealthy feelings to Him can prevent us from spilling out words we will later regret.
Jesus said that out of the nature of the heart a man speaks (Luke 6:45). There’s nothing like a good thump to reveal the nature of a heart. The true character of a person is seen not in momentary heroics but in the thump-packed day-to-day living. If you have a tendency to thud more than you sing, allow the Lord to change your heart and words. Trying harder is not sufficient. You cannot change your thought patterns or your words on your own. You need the help of the Holy Spirit – filling your heart with His love and good fruit.
In His Grace,
Pastor Hamilton