You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.†Matthew 12:34-35 (NIV)
What ‘evils’ are generally done in our society and hurt people in ways we are not aware?
I am going to warn you…put on some steel-toed boots. Your toes may get crunched!
What do you watch on TV? What books do you read? What magazines are in your living room or bedroom? Could you look Jesus in the eyes and answer the questions without looking away? I couldn’t. Oh, I don’t watch triple-x movies or read Jackie Collins novels or even Stephen King. But I do watch TV shows that are weakening to my spiritual health? I love CSI shows. Murder. Rape. Pedophiles. Reality can be horrific. I kid myself by saying that the ‘bad guys’ end up in jail or dead. And yet they are portrayed as people who have had bad or no choices that have brought them to this criminal end. What message am I sending to my children and grandchildren when they see me watching this? They believe that I approve of the content. Hear me clearly: I am not judging anyone else here but me.
What about ‘trash talk’? Now ragging someone about who they are or what they have done has become a national past time! Professional athletes, movie stars, politicians all spend a lot of ‘air time’ cutting each other down, pointing out the flaws so that we don’t notice their flaws! What message does ‘trash talk’ send to my children and grandchildren? That ‘cutting someone down’ is ok and even fun – unless you are the one being cut!
Jesus told His disciples (that includes me) that we are not to belong to the world. He has chosen us to come out of the world. (John 15:18-19) I am to be an alien of what the world sees has a ‘normal’ life. I am to be different. Can the world tell that I am different? Can my family tell that I live a different life? Do I walk my life in Spirit and in Truth??? What flows out of my heart, my life? Is it healing or hurting to the ‘least’, to the ‘children’ who are watching me? Jesus is watching and He knows.
I want my life to be so in love with God – that my life is about passion for God! Every moment of my life is about how I can turn the eyes of everyone I meet…toward God. I don’t have to physically shout my faith but my faith in God shouts through the choices I make and the joy I know when I am walking in obedience to Him. May my heart be awakened to Jesus and His Way, His Truth, and His Life.
