JESUS: “THAT WHICH DEFILES”

/ / Ava’s Thoughts

Written Wednesday 10 January 2018, 2:04pm

Is it coincidence? Last night in reading about Jesus in the Bible, I came to Matthew chapter 15 in which Jesus said: “what goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them. “But the things come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts – murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

 This evening I told L. about how I thought Jesus His words and Mother’s quote: “Thistles and thorns are painful, but evil tongues a thousand times more” were linked in that, the quote was like the words Jesus spoke in “Matthew about THAT WHICH DEFILES”.

I thought how the words of Jesus made sense in that I believe the heart is the seat of our emotions and it is the emotion we feel at that moment that make us say and do certain things. Jesus used the heart as origin for what comes out of our mouths. Though the heart is a living organ, we often use the heart metaphorically as an expression for many of our words and actions like the words and actions on Valentine’s day. Or like in Matthew 6:20-21; “for where your treasure is, there is your heart also.” I think it is only natural for me to think “Yes, our words come from the heart.” I think Jesus regards the heart as the center of our body from which we either tend to do good or evil.

I quoted the words the LORD Jesus had spoken out loud to L. and that I agreed with “what comes in the mouth comes from the heart and explained that very often the emotions we feel make us think certain thoughts so that the words become spoken words. L. disagreed. I understood her to say she “never” speaks from the heart as she believes that it is the mind or brain that causes the words to come out. In that way, yes indeed, she is right in that the brain picks up the emotional impulses and translates it into words. But it is about the origin of the emotion as Jesus said: “FOR OUT THE HEART COME EVIL THOUGHTS.”

I told L I disagreed as I think we all act from the heart at times. We may not always mean it or intended it to be but, it is that momentary emotion that makes us say or act a certain way. We all, including me, say words that come from our emotions, whether it is from feeling good, happy, negative, bad and so on. I think it all goes back to intentions and our discipline and restraints. We often don’t mean to say or do but we do it. Our imperfection as a human being.

To me, it is important to know not just who the LORD Jesus was but also what He wants me to do. I am learning by reading His works and teachings. The more I read, the more I understand and the more I understand, the more I look forward  delving deeper into the Word of the LORD.

PRAISE THE LORD