PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: Luke 6:43-45
What do you sense the Lord saying to you in this passage?
For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” (Luke 6:45)
Sometimes the words that come out of my mouth are not good.
That is, they do not sound like Jesus, full of mercy.
What are our words full of – complaints, criticism, negativity?
Or are they full of gratitude, kindness, hopefulness, positivity?
Jesus says that our mouths reflect what our hearts are full of.
We are like trees, the fruit revealing what kind of tree we are.
Its not that my fruit is always bad, there is good fruit too.
But I don’t like the bad fruit that is there, the unhelpful words.
It is hard enough changing my words, how can I change my heart?
“For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness.” (Colossians 2:9-10)
Jesus offers to fill our hearts with himself.
As I fill myself with Jesus, he fills my heart with better fruit.
“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace…” (Galatians 5:22-23)
PRAYER
Lord, fill me with your goodness, and help me change my words and actions. I want to sound more like you when I speak!
I remember how an uncle of mine, who sometimes seemed to be tough and strong minded, hated hypocrisy. He would be the first to point it out. If my Uncle was angry about something he was pretty blunt about it. Many would say he wasn’t very diplomatic. Another Uncle never served on church council because he, being a law enforcement officer, often knew more about the lives of some of the prominent parishioners that wasn’t out in the open – he too had a tough time with hypocrisy. I won’t say my Uncles were saints – they struggled with it – but from what I experienced is they were pretty open and blunt about their views on things and that sometimes got them into trouble. Their example helped me to see when I was being hypocritical!