day 36: watch your words!

"but the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean'."

matthew 15:18

we like to talk. some certainly like to talk more than others, but overall we enjoy communicating with others. i find the days that i like the least are the days in which i have little opportunity to talk to others. one of the things i loved about my job at the nursery a few years ago is that i was constantly interacting with others - talking in spanish or english. but how much of what we say is "good"? how much of it is worth hearing? if someone recorded everything that you said in a 24-hour-period and then played it back to you after, would you be embarrassed and regret things that came out of your mouth? i know i would.

Jesus says that "the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart" (matthew 12:34). he compares it to a tree and it's fruit, "either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit" (matthew 12:33). bad fruit comes from a bad tree, just as evil words come from an evil heart.

at times, my words can be like daggers. a hurt or bitterness in my heart is revealed by the words that i speak. as i have mentioned before, it stems from a sinful desire to hurt the person who has hurt me. other times, though, i don't even realize when i am doing it. i don't realize what garbage is pouring out of my mouth. sometimes it is in the form of gossip. sometimes it is boastful. whatever form it comes in, they are words better off left unsaid.

but if we simply keep from saying what we are thinking, is that enough? it may stop us from saying something we will regret, but does it fix the problem of the heart? like david said in psalm 51, we need pure hearts that only God can create. "he is the one who gives us love instead of bitterness, thankfulness instead of cursing, kindness instead of sarcasm."

Lord, create in me a pure heart. renew a steadfast spirit within me.