Going Out -- Coming In

Matthew 15:11 "Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man." -- Jesus

Proverbs 19:28 A corrupt witness mocks at justice, and the mouth of the wicked gulps down evil.

Children love to put everything inside their mouths. It is the mother's job to constantly admonish her young children not to put such-and-such into their mouths. Thus, we all, as children, are taught from a very young age that certain items are "dirty", and we should not eat these, nor even put them into our mouths.

Some of the Jewish people in Jesus' day believed that certain foods would make a person spiritually defiled, or unclean. The Bible teaches differently, however. Jesus taught that the food one eats has no power at all over a man's spirit, or the cleanliness or uncleanliness that is in a person's heart. It is what a man speaks that defiles his spirit.

Proverbs also teaches this principle quite strongly -- what comes out of the mouth, i.e., words, speech, is really what a person ingests into his spirit, or heart.

How can this be? Isn't this putting the cart before the horse? Isn't our speech a product of what is in our heart? According to these two passages of scripture, the process works the other way around. The person who is speaking is also ingesting into his heart every word he speaks! To the extent that someone who is telling lies about another person is actually gulping down evil.

A person who speaks gossip, spreading deceitful information about another, a person who "bad-mouths" and speaks negatively for no purpose other than pleasure, is really ingesting poison, living in an atmosphere of constant toxicity, polluting his own spiritual stomach, so to speak, and digesting into every part of his personality and being lies and untruths.

Is this too harsh? Apparently not, because Jesus Himself, who will be the judge on that final day, says--

Matthew 12:36 "But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment."

This is a powerful reason why I should guard my tongue with great care -- whatever I speak will all come back to me, both by polluting my mind and spirit, and in the final judgment.

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Heavenly Father, This is all so new to me. I have not in my past spent a great deal of time thinking about the effects to myself of my speech. Yet again and again in Your word, I find these verses warning me to guard my tongue with the greatest of care! Please help me, Lord, to become aware of all I am saying, and to put a tight clamp on my mouth before I even open it wrongly. Thank-You, loving Lord. In Jesus' name, Amen.