Wednesday, June 3, 2015

A Heart Diet




"But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.  With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God.  Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.  Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening?  Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh." - James 3:8-12

I think what James is saying here is that our words about others have more to do with who we are than who they are.  Our words, especially those that are spoken against someone else, show the defilement (rottenness, pollution, impurity, profanity) of our hearts. 

We're so careful to watch our diets to protect our hearts from heart disease, and protect our bodies from all sorts of sickness.  Yet Jesus said in Matthew 15:10-11 “Hear and understand:  Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.” 

A physical diet often includes eating less, and eating better.  Maybe the best diet for the heart is just saying less, and saying better things.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please let me know your thoughts about the article by leaving a short comment. I appreciate all your feedback.

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.