Oh that Mouth…
Good morning and happy Friday!
My daughter and I leave for the beach today and let me tell you...it could not come a moment too soon.
These past few months have been a stirring of crazy activity. We are exhausted. Mentally and physically.
I am so happy to have landed in the book of Psalm for our reading plan. I need it. Desperately.
As soon as my eyes flutter open each morning, I cannot wait to hit start on the coffee pot and sit with my Bible open inhaling God's Truth.
It is the only reason I can breathe.
This morning, a verse captured my attention. It is a verse I have memorized and pondered on through the years, but this morning, it spoke deep into my heart. I needed the reminder, and I needed it badly.
"May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer." Psalm 19:14
Just a gentle reminder....just because our mouths do not utter what our hearts are meditating on does not mean we are not sinning.
Often, I have prided myself on being able to keep my mouth shut when situations arise that infuriate me. Well, friends, this is only half the battle.
We have a heart issue as well. Our heart is what God is most concerned about.
When my children would get in trouble when they were smaller, I would tell them that the problem was a "heart issue". I told them that sometimes we grow weeds in our heart and we need to constantly be pulling up those weeds.
Eventually, those weeds come out of our mouths into words and often actions. Which lead to big consequences.
Yikes.
Let me give you an example..
This past weekend we were at a volleyball tournament with my daughter. Our referee made several back to back bad calls.
It was frustrating to say the least because we were in the semi-final game and the point spread was close.
Parents are yelling from the side lines, some of the players were even yelling at the ref.
In my heart, I was yelling at the ref as well, but I composed myself and kept my mouth shut.
However, in my heart, I was just as guilty as the ones yelling and screaming.
The thoughts going through my heart and mind were far from pure.
I took a deep breath and I prayed for the ref.
I knew the only way to combat this anger and frustration was to replace those feelings with prayer.
Prayer creates humility.
Pride is the opposite of humility.
On the sidelines as a parent, pride can destroy us.
It takes root deep in the heart and before we know it we do not recognize who we are anymore. Pride is the enemy's best tool to separate us from humility and from fellowship with others.
Pride is not always visible to others...but it is visible to God.
He sees the heart.
The only way to combat pride is to have a heart change.
Meditating on scripture, meditating on prayer, meditating on gratitude...
These are the cures for pride.
A runaway mouth comes from a runaway heart.
A heart departed from God's Word will surely lead to a mouth out of control.
Ask me how I know...
Friends, I honestly do not believe that this is a one and done solution. This is an ongoing work of pulling weeds. Day after day. Sometimes minute after minute.
Those weeds will suffocate and spoil the softest of hearts.
We must put our gardening gloves on...and pull up those weeds by the root.
We must saturate ourselves in God's Word. Over and over.
Let's begin today shall we?
Inhale His Truth today. Breathe it in deep. Our words will be sweeter, kinder. Our hearts will reflect Christ, and our words will sweeten instead of spoil.
pulling up weeds,
jill
