“A good man produces good out of the good storeroom of his heart. An evil man produces evil out of the evil storeroom, for his mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.” – Luke 6:45 (HCSB)
As a child, did you ever say, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” As adults, I think each of us have realized that this children’s nursery rhyme is painfully inaccurate. Words hurt. The reason this is true is because of what Jesus teaches us in Luke 6:45; out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. When someone speaks words of hatred, we know that those words come from a hateful place in their heart. And knowing someone has that kind of hatred in their heart for us or someone we love can leave a scar much deeper and much more permanent than any damage a stick or stone could inflict.
With this truth in mind today, we should each examine our own words. When we desire to say something evil, hurtful, or full of hatred it is not good enough to simply hold back our words. The desire to speak those words, whether we actually voice them or not, comes from a broken and sinful place in our heart. Our prayer should always be to not only keep from speaking words of hate, but to have a transformed heart that speaks the Truth in love in every circumstance.
Heavenly Father, change our words by first changing our hearts. It is our desire that the words of our mouth, and especially the meditation of our heart, would be pleasing in Your sight.
In Christ’s Service,
Pastor Shane Cannon