"What comes out of a man is what makes him unclean. For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts..."

Mark 7:20-21, NIV

Have you ever said something that you wished you hadn't? Maybe you said something particularly unkind or maybe it was a profanity that just "slipped out". Whatever it was, you may have then asked the question, "Where did that come from?" The answer, of course, is that it came from the heart.

It has become a common excuse in recent years when someone in the public eye like a celebrity or politician has made some outrageous statement that got unwanted exposure for them to say, "That's not who I am. Everyone who knows me will tell you that that's not who I am" The fact of the matter is that that's exactly who they are. Scripture tells us that a man speaks from the overflow of his heart, but it's amazing that in our present day world that fewer people are taking responsibility for what the say as if they cannot help it.

So, what's the solution? Isn't it obvious from what Jesus said above? We have to take care of our hearts! Even a child knows if you store clean water in a dirty container that the water will become dirty, so you have to clean the container first, before you put the water in. It's the same way with our speech. If you want to make sure that unwanted words do not "slip out" of your mouth, you will first have to have a clean heart.

And, it's a lot easier to have clean words that come from the overflow of a pure heart, than it is to try and "clean up" the mess that occurs when evil words slip out of our hearts and into our mouths for the whole world to hear.

Today's reading is from Mark 7. It has all sorts of lessons that will help make our everyday lives so much easier.