“You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.”
“And he called the people to him and said to them, ‘Hear and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person…’ Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person.’” Matthew 12:34-35; 15:10-11,17-20a
The Pharisees had a knack for talking the talk. Pompous and polished, they were persnickety about rules and had eyes keen on catching anything that went against their prescription for righteousness. But Jesus saw through their religious veneer to the poison in their prideful hearts, and addressed what they could not with long robes hide from the God-man. (Matthew 12:1-8)
It is nice to be able to hide secrets sins in the closets and corners of our hearts, until we can’t. Our tongues are a dead giveaway to the putrid impulses and decay that lie within. Out of our hearts comes ugliness beyond even our realizing we were capable of, and once the spigot has opened, there’s no taking back. Unbridled anger, hurtful criticism, crass words, derogatory insults, all flow from hearts rigid with pride, deceit, and discontent. When this occurs, be warned. These are only an outward mimicking of deeper and greater darkness within.
The beautiful thing about Jesus’s teaching and grand exposés of the heart is that He never leaves us there. He provides the antidote, and with mercy invites us to take it. His Spirit brings sin to light and conviction to bear out in honest confession. In grace He extricates what we denounce, purifying and redirecting our long-held habits. Our cooperation is required in this sanctifying process, but He perseveres with us to make us holy. (Leviticus 20:7,26; 1 Peter 1:16)
What sins have we tucked away and fondled and excused by blaming others for far too long? What sarcasm, hatred, unkindness, or malice resides within and occasionally spurts out in ugliness to alert our spiritual senses? What fetishes or fantasies, what coveting or bitterness, do we justify as innocuous and invisible, but actually manifest themselves when we least expect? When will we tend to that blot, name it for what it is, and once for all put it away? And if we have harmed another by our heart filth, what need we do today to bring repair?
“Just as I am, and waiting not
to rid my soul of one dark blot,
to thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, thou wilt receive,
wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
because thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.” ~Charlotte Elliot (1836)
Father, remove from my heart any errant attitude or poison so You alone reign.
As the rain and snow 