Daily Jewel

by Pastor Carnell, McAlester, OK

“I Hear Your Heart”

“…the words of the wicked hide a violent nature….” – Proverbs 10:6b (Good News Translation)

Have you ever noticed how children say whatever is on their mind? There is a very good reason for that—they do not know any better! There is a “freedom” in their thinking and their conversations that we as adults do not enjoy. Or maybe it is because we lose our ability to keep our “thoughts to ourselves” when it comes to our conversations and they become more of a problem than a pleasure.
After yesterday’s message I began thinking through some other issues relating to this particular thought from Solomon and why it is an issue that needs addressed. Here are a couple of the things that came to mind.
First, the words that come out of a person’s mouth are typically not garbled random thoughts but that which has been stored in the heart over a period of time. How many times have we heard someone say (or even ourselves), “I don’t know why I said that?” Or, “that’s not what I meant to say.” Well…you may not have meant to say what you did, or maybe you did not want to say what you did, but in truth it was there all along and unfortunately it came out at the wrong time with the wrong people listening.
For those who have been following the political language going on will know that practically every word that a politician says is going to be recorded and at some point used against them. You would think that they would guard their mouth more carefully—unfortunately their pride gets in the way (which is a condition of the heart) and when that happens people get hurt. And in the cases I just suggested, elections get lost.
This thought comes out in a classic line from the Oscar winning movie, “The King’s Speech.” For those who have never seen this movie it tells the true story of King George VI of Great Britain who had a serious speech impediment. Before he became king he sought several means to help overcome his stuttering but none were successful—none that is until he met and began working with Lionel Logue. In one scene Logue has then Prince Albert attempt to read a book out loud while wearing headphones listening to music. The Prince questions Logue’s method and asks him, “How will I know what I am saying?” To that Logue responds, “Surely a prince’s brain knows what it’s mouth is doing.” (Great line!) To that, the prince quips, “You don’t princes very well do you?”
This could also explain why friendships, relationships and yes, even marriages can become splintered and even destroyed. Words are said that some ears were not meant to hear, and in truth, words were uttered that should have never left the person’s mouth, because the brain does not know what the mouth is doing. But this begs the question—how did they get there in the first place? Jesus might have given us a clue.
“Don't you understand? Anything that goes into your mouth goes into your stomach and then on out of your body. But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these are the things that make you ritually unclean. For from your heart come the evil ideas which lead you to kill, commit adultery, and do other immoral things; to rob, lie, and slander others. These are the things that make you unclean” – Matthew 15:17-19

Jesus knew where the real problem lies. If we were to consult the heart first then maybe the brain would not have so much trouble giving the mouth free reign. That is unless the heart is filled with hate, bigotry, envy, pride, anger…etc. Children say things out of an innocent heart—a heart that has not had time to have it polluted and stained by the world and the evil that does exist.
For me, this gives an entirely new meaning to the phrase, “think before you speak.” Don’t you think?
Pastor J. T. Carnell