Little Chats With God

Posts Tagged ‘words we speak’

 ”What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean’, but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean’.” Matthew 15:11Matthew 15:11
English: World English Bible - WEB
11 That which enters into the mouth doesn’t defile the man; but that which proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”

WP-Bible plugin (NIV)

The food police are at it again, Lord. Last night on the telly they were on about how we should not eat leftovers, they could be full of germs, blah, blah, blah! Honestly, I’ve been eating leftovers for more than fifty years, and they’ve never harmed me yet.

I often think of the poor old bloke I saw on a similar show years ago. That time the food police were on about chopping boards. Apparently, we should not use wooden ones because of the dreaded germs. This old fellow had one that he had made when he was a stripling, and had been using all these years. He was obviously quite proud of it. Now, because the food police said so, he was about to throw it in the bin. I wanted to grab him, shake him and say, “Excuse me, you’ve been using the thing for fifty or sixty years! If it hasn’t made you sick yet, there’s a pretty good chance it’s not going to!”

The food police really get up my nose, Lord. Really, all they want is to make us buy extra stuff. I do find it somewhat amusing, though, to know that they were round in Your day, too. Of course, back then they didn’t have the “scientific” backing that they do now. (Science, like statistics, can be made to say just about anything you want!) Instead, in Your day they called on that good old reliable standby, tradition.

I really would have liked to be a fly on the wall as You put them in their place so effectively!

Then, as You so often did, you immediately turned it around from the superficial to the essential. It’s not what goes into the mouth, but what comes out that counts, You said. At worst, the things we put into our mouths can harm us personally. The things that come out of our mouths can harm those around us, and bring discredit to You and Your Kingdom. As well as that, what comes out of our mouths shows what is inside of us.

Lord, deal with my heart, the source of everything that comes out of my mouth. Let what comes out of my mouth always be what will honour You, and encourage those around me.