Scripture – ““Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.””
Matthew 15:16-20 NIV
Observation – The Pharisees and teachers of the law were criticizing Jesus bêcause he and his disciples were eating and hadn’t washed their hands. Jesus told his disciples that what goes into a person’s mouth isn’t what defiles them but what comes out of a person’s mouth. Every word a person verbalizes originated in their heart. If you say evil things those things came from your heart.
Application – I have all kinds of evil thoughts but I try not to verbalize them so what does that say about me? I don’t know how many times a day, I say in my mind, “What the F” I don’t let it come out of my mouth but these thoughts are still in my heart and coming from my heart. I believe the application of this scripture is to recognize these thoughts before they fully materialize and talk to God about them and try and look at people and situations from his perspective? And what is his perspective? He loves people and wants me to love people, so instead of reacting in my mind with, “What the F?!?” I could work to understand the other person and pray for wisdom to honor God with my thoughts.
Prayer – Dear Jesus, when you drill down to expose what is in a person’s heart it is obvious that we have all sinned and fall short of your expectations for us. Thank you for your love and patience and for dying on the cross to pay for our sins. Amen.
What are you doing? Do it better 