The Heart-Mouth Connection

God looks on the heart of a person, not what is outwardly visible.

Sometimes when I mess up, I rejoice in the knowledge that He looks on my heart.  But sometimes, as much as I hate to admit it, it scares me.  Is anybody with me out there?  Do any of you know what it is like to smile and make nice on the outside, but on the inside you know it’s a dark ugly scene?  It’s a symptom of the human condition, but that doesn’t make it any less unnerving to think of anybody, especially God, having full view of it all.

In 1 Samuel 16:7, the Lord sent Samuel out to find a new king of Israel. The Lord sent him to the house of Jesse to see Jesse’s sons, but didn’t tell Samuel which one He had chosen.

Has that ever happened to you?  You feel like the Lord is sending you someplace, or in a certain direction, but you have absolutely no idea what to do once you get there? Well, Jesse apparently had some big, strapping, good looking sons.  And Samuel kept thinking, “Surely it’s THIS one.  THIS guy looks like a king!”  But the LORD looks at the heart. The Lord kept telling Samuel, “Nope, not that one.” God wanted David!  The baby.  The youngest.  The least likely.  Because his HEART was pleasing to God!

The Word says that God weighs our heart.  So when you are trying your hardest, putting forth your best effort, and you STILL screw up…He is looking at your heart.  Or when you think you have done the right thing and made the right decision but the world flips upside down and it all falls apart…He is looking at your heart.  Isn’t that good to know?

Good outcomes are great, and (for those of you who are old enough to remember, as Hannibal on the A-Team used to say) we all love it when a plan comes together!  And that is how the world judges us.  We ARE out latest success or failure as far as the world is concerned.

But our heavenly Father – He looks at our heart.  And during those times that is a good thing.

What about the times when it’s NOT a good thing?  Anybody ever been in a place where your heart isn’t right, and you KNOW it?  You can feel it.  You see it.  But WHAT DO YOU DO ABOUT IT?  Max Lucado, a noted Christian author and pastor says, “You change your life by changing your heart.”  And you are probably now saying to yourself the same thing that I said.  That sounds great, but exactly how do I change my heart?

To change your heart, you have to first realize that the heart and the mouth are connected.  The Word says in Matthew 12:34, “You brood of vipers, how can you speak good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.” (Amplified)    And in Luke 6:45, “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”(NIV)  Another version says, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”  So we know that whatever fills your heart comes out of your mouth.

In Proverbs we are told that, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it and indulge it will eat its fruit and bear the consequences of their words.”

The Word tells us that our tongue – YOUR TONGUE – has the power of LIFE or DEATH.  Anybody ever had to bear the consequences of your words?  I have.  WORDS have POWER.   And YOU are responsible for your words.

IS THAT STEPPING ON ANYBODY’S TOES BUT MINE??  ANYBODY ELSE STRUGGLE TO TAME THEIR TONGUE?

There are LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS of scriptures about the tongue, and guarding your mouth, and the wisdom of being careful with your words and using your words to build up and edify, not lie, deceive, and stir up strife. It stands to reason since its such a common thread that it must be an important principle.

There are several ways we can change our hearts.  We all know we are supposed to be studying the Word, praying, and spending time with God.  But what else can we do?  We need to guard our hearts and the seed that goes into it. (Garbage in, garbage out.  You don’t plant squash and expect to get tomatoes, y’all!)   We can also change our hearts, by changing the way we speak.  By speaking life.

Essentially, it works like this: You GET what you SAY.  Proverbs 18:20 says, “From the fruit of their mouth, a person’s stomach is filled; with the harvest of their lips they are satisfied.”

You can speak LIFE!: ENCOURAGEMENT, LOVE, KINDNESS, BLESSING, COMPASSION, JOY, STRENGTH, PEACE, PATIENCE, etc

OR

You can speak DEATH!: DECEIT, STRIFE, HATE, FEAR, WEAKNESS, CURSES, CHAOS, DECEPTION, DESTRUCTION, etc

Anybody ever noticed how that works?  That what you SAY has a direct result on the things around you?  Let’s say for example you have a new job.  You love it!  You are excited about this new opportunity that the Lord has given you and learning new things and meeting new people.  Your new coworker who sits next to you does NOT share your excitement.  She HATES her job.  She complains about coming into work.  About the dress code, the management, her job duties, the temperature at her desk, the hours, where she has to park, the receptionist, the bathroom is too far away…the window next to her desk lets too much light in, her computer is too slow (can’t they give us good equipment?!) Her chair is squeaky and doesn’t roll……blah blah blah……

This girl is sowing some seeds into anybody that will stop and listen.

And if you aren’t careful, what happens?  Pretty soon you are complaining too.  And that effects your attitude.  It effects how you feel about getting up and coming into work. How you look and act when you get there, the quality of your work……  Do you see where this is going?

And why do you work?  I don’t know about y’all, but as much as I love nursing and helping people, I do it for the paycheck.  I do it to support my family.  And there is NOTHING wrong with that.  It’s a BLESSING.  The Word says one of the ways God blesses us is through the works of our hands.  But now here we are listening to Debbie Downer and it begins to affect our work and consequently effects how we care for and support our family.  All because Debbie hasn’t been happy about anything since 1983 and she likes to wallow in her negativity.

Don’t believe me?  Do an experiment.  Monday when y’all go to work, try it.  DECIDE before you go in, that you are going to be in a good mood.  Don’t speak negatively, speak life.  Speak positive about your job, your day, the people around you, your coworkers, customers or clients….  See how it effects your mood, and maybe even the mood of those around you.

Words are POWERFUL. Our words will move mountains (Mark 11:23).  Jesus cursed a fig tree (Matthew 11:12-25) and it withered and died.  Mark 7:21-23 says, “For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.  All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

I’m not saying, that because you are complaining about the icicles hanging off your nose at work, that is necessarily going to lead to theft and adultery.  But I AM saying that we all must be careful about the seeds we allow to be planted in our heart.  What are you allowing to take root and grow?  Which seeds are you tending, watering, and letting see the light of day?

How many of y’all like to garden?  In my old age, (and especially where we were in the deep south where you can grow ANYTHING) I developed a love of gardening.  One thing I learned QUICKLY, is that you have to be diligent about the weeding.  You need to go out and weed OFTEN.  Because if you don’t, before you know it, the weeds have taken over.  Pretty soon, your flowers or your tomatoes or your bell peppers are choked out.  Often the weeds will get so big, so fast, that it actually kills the plant you are trying to grow.

One year, my husband and I went to all the trouble to plant a garden and then barely touched it again.  We went on a trip and came back and couldn’t even FIND the tomatoes.  Other years were kind of “hit and miss” with the weeding.  We would do pretty good initially, but then got lax with it, and had SOME weeds come up.  In that instance, we didn’t lose the crop completely, but it DID have an effect.  Because we didn’t pull all the weeds, those plants competed with our veggies for the nutrients in the soil, and the water, and the nourishment.  So while we DID get tomatoes and bell peppers that year, the fruit wasn’t NEARLY as big and pretty as it should / could have been.  And then it wasn’t enough to feed us.  I had to BUY tomatoes, y’all.  Who DOES that?? Anybody ever planted a garden and still had to buy tomatoes and squash?!

• What are you planting?  Good seed? Bad seed?
• When weeds come up, are you dealing with them quickly before they have a chance to grow?
• Which plants are you watering and feeding?
• What does your fruit look like?  Is it enough to feed you?  Is it nourishment for you?

Romans 10:17 tells us, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Therefore, when you want to change what is in your heart, SAY IT!  SAY IT AGAIN!  SAY IT EVERY DAY!!  SAY IT, and read it, and study it, and repeat it, and SAY IT until it’s IN YOUR HEART!!

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.   When you SPEAK IT, YOU HEAR IT!  It’s a cycle.  When you replace your negative talk with positive, you are breaking an old cycle and beginning a new one.  It’s a Biblical Principle!

Proverbs 10:11 says, “The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.” And you get to choose which applies to you.  Remember: change your speech = change your heart.  And when you come across some seed, YOU CHOOSE what is PLANTED.  YOU CHOOSE what is TENDED.

Proverbs 4:23    Above all else guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

 

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