In my opinion The heart/Mouth and the Brain are connected to our spiritual walk because
the words we use are very important. Our words demonstrate the orientation of our hearts and maintaining this orientation through the power of the Holy Spirit requires constant vigilance and care of our whole self.
Whatever is in our heart the mouth will speak.
“The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45, ESV)
James acknowledged the deadly impact of the tongue when he said, “…No human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison” (James 3:7-8, ESV).
We are told to think before we speak, but when we don’t remember to do this, where are these words coming from? Why in moments of strong emotion, anger, or pain, do our words tear down and not edify and what can we do about .
In Luke 6, a great crowd is gathered before Jesus, seeking to hear him and be healed. Jesus describes what it looks like to be His disciple, raising the bar of the Law from “Do good to those who do good to you” (Luke 6:33) to “Love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return” (Luke 6:35).
Jesus expands the requirements of the Law from expecting good behavior to transforming us into His people by responding to His words with action.
Jesus summarizes His higher standard by stating, “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
If our heart actually includes how we think and behave along with how we feel, then the expression of this collective wholeness demonstrates the composition of our desires through our words, habits, and behaviors. The words that flow from our lips are a sample of the content that lies within our hearts.
In the bible Paul, James, and Peter all use similar language of war to describe the conflict that wages within us between our flesh and earthly passion and the work of the Spirit to redeem us and purify our desires (Romans 7:23; James 4:1, 7-8; 1 Peter 2:11).
Our own desires, affections, thoughts, and actions are bent toward sin at all times (Romans 1:24; James 1:14), but by the grace of God (Ephesians 2:8), conviction and faith by the Spirit (John 16:8), and redemption through Jesus (Romans 3:24), this natural heart state is being transformed (2 Cor. 3:18). This is the message of the gospel.
Jesus’ point in this passage is not that we must will ourselves toward holiness, but that it is through relationship with Him that the desires of our heart are transformed, cleansing the outward expression of our hearts through our words and actions to now reflect Him in place of our own desires (James 4:6-8).
When we as Christians open our mouth we are still “in process,” seeking to put to death the desires of the flesh each day and direct our hearts towards the Spirit (Romans 8:5-11)?
According to Martin Luther King once suggested, “Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your god.” The content of our heart is developed by the direction and content of our affections in a reciprocal but learned process. In the same way that we develop a taste and desire for food, our daily habits shape our desires and orient our hearts.
When Jesus says in Matthew 12 that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (v. 34), He follows it up by saying, “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will judged.
As Christians, we have been justified through the blood of Christ (Romans 5:9), but we are also in the process of being sanctified as well (1 Peter 1), meaning that the Holy Spirit is working in us to conform us to the image of Christ bit by bit.
It is a continuous process that requires active attentiveness to avoid “careless” or “useless” words (Matthew 12:34) slipping out at times when our diligence wains or our flesh wins.
These moments are opportunities to remind us of our prior state as sinners saved by grace as well as our hope and longing for His coming restoration and glorification when we no longer struggle with this body of sin (Romans 8).
Directing the affections of our heart is not accomplished by willpower or good deeds, but through the merciful work of the Holy Spirit .
I was always taught that my heart was the driving force in my life…so what I feel in my heart is me…I can think something is positive, I can say something is positive, but if I don’t feel the positivity in my heart, it really isn’t positive to me. Psalm 139:23 Search me oh God, and know my heart, try me and know my thoughts…However, I had an issue with overthinking or analyzing things to the extreme regardless of what I felt in my heart…then speaking about things without stopping to think…doing one or the other or even both, I can hurt someone unintentionally. Which was not in my heart to do. Prov. 4:23 I know that God speaks to my heart, so with guidance from the Holy Spirit, controlling my thoughts and definitely bridling my tongue through prayer and supplication will help with my Spiritual walk. I would not want to do or say anything that would cause someone hurt or make them turn away from God…and an unbridled tongue could definitely do that. Prov. 18:21.
GREAT POST : Inspirational Nugget:
In my opinion The heart/Mouth and the Brain are connected to our spiritual walk because
the words we use are very important. Our words demonstrate the orientation of our hearts and maintaining this orientation through the power of the Holy Spirit requires constant vigilance and care of our whole self.
Whatever is in our heart the mouth will speak.
“The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45, ESV)
James acknowledged the deadly impact of the tongue when he said, “…No human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison” (James 3:7-8, ESV).
We are told to think before we speak, but when we don’t remember to do this, where are these words coming from? Why in moments of strong emotion, anger, or pain, do our words tear down and not edify and what can we do about .
In Luke 6, a great crowd is gathered before Jesus, seeking to hear him and be healed. Jesus describes what it looks like to be His disciple, raising the bar of the Law from “Do good to those who do good to you” (Luke 6:33) to “Love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return” (Luke 6:35).
Jesus expands the requirements of the Law from expecting good behavior to transforming us into His people by responding to His words with action.
Jesus summarizes His higher standard by stating, “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
If our heart actually includes how we think and behave along with how we feel, then the expression of this collective wholeness demonstrates the composition of our desires through our words, habits, and behaviors. The words that flow from our lips are a sample of the content that lies within our hearts.
In the bible Paul, James, and Peter all use similar language of war to describe the conflict that wages within us between our flesh and earthly passion and the work of the Spirit to redeem us and purify our desires (Romans 7:23; James 4:1, 7-8; 1 Peter 2:11).
Our own desires, affections, thoughts, and actions are bent toward sin at all times (Romans 1:24; James 1:14), but by the grace of God (Ephesians 2:8), conviction and faith by the Spirit (John 16:8), and redemption through Jesus (Romans 3:24), this natural heart state is being transformed (2 Cor. 3:18). This is the message of the gospel.
Jesus’ point in this passage is not that we must will ourselves toward holiness, but that it is through relationship with Him that the desires of our heart are transformed, cleansing the outward expression of our hearts through our words and actions to now reflect Him in place of our own desires (James 4:6-8).
When we as Christians open our mouth we are still “in process,” seeking to put to death the desires of the flesh each day and direct our hearts towards the Spirit (Romans 8:5-11)?
According to Martin Luther King once suggested, “Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your god.” The content of our heart is developed by the direction and content of our affections in a reciprocal but learned process. In the same way that we develop a taste and desire for food, our daily habits shape our desires and orient our hearts.
When Jesus says in Matthew 12 that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (v. 34), He follows it up by saying, “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will judged.
As Christians, we have been justified through the blood of Christ (Romans 5:9), but we are also in the process of being sanctified as well (1 Peter 1), meaning that the Holy Spirit is working in us to conform us to the image of Christ bit by bit.
It is a continuous process that requires active attentiveness to avoid “careless” or “useless” words (Matthew 12:34) slipping out at times when our diligence wains or our flesh wins.
These moments are opportunities to remind us of our prior state as sinners saved by grace as well as our hope and longing for His coming restoration and glorification when we no longer struggle with this body of sin (Romans 8).
Directing the affections of our heart is not accomplished by willpower or good deeds, but through the merciful work of the Holy Spirit .
keep searching the scriptures to show yourself approved. Good post.
I was always taught that my heart was the driving force in my life…so what I feel in my heart is me…I can think something is positive, I can say something is positive, but if I don’t feel the positivity in my heart, it really isn’t positive to me. Psalm 139:23 Search me oh God, and know my heart, try me and know my thoughts…However, I had an issue with overthinking or analyzing things to the extreme regardless of what I felt in my heart…then speaking about things without stopping to think…doing one or the other or even both, I can hurt someone unintentionally. Which was not in my heart to do. Prov. 4:23 I know that God speaks to my heart, so with guidance from the Holy Spirit, controlling my thoughts and definitely bridling my tongue through prayer and supplication will help with my Spiritual walk. I would not want to do or say anything that would cause someone hurt or make them turn away from God…and an unbridled tongue could definitely do that. Prov. 18:21.