Matthew 15:10-20
Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen and understand. What goes into someone's mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them." Then the disciples came to him and asked, "Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?" He replied, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit." Peter said, "Explain the parable to us." "Are you still so dull?" Jesus asked them. "Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of a person's mouth come from the heart, and these defile them...
Our problem today is not with what's on the outside, but rather what inside our soul. People like to use all kinds of ways to cover the ugliness inside, but whatever is inside us will inadvertently be expressed on the outside through our words and behavior. Pharisees value the law of the outside, and they strived to help people not to violate the law. A person can follow each word of the law on the outside, but it doesn't mean he obeys God inside his heart. We may end up becoming self-righteous because we're following the law. We may even make law based on our experience and ask others to follow. When others don't follow our ways, we condemn them. Law is supposed to be a good thing, but because of our self-centeredness it becomes an excuse to condemn each other.
In addition, we often gossip behind people. Sometimes it's just casual chatting, but sometime we intentionally want to hurt others. Sometimes it's from jealousy, but it could also come out from bitterness. Therefore, when we are complaining about other brothers and sisters, we need to think about our motivation: Are we really doing it for the benefit of the church, or is it just because of our sinful desires? We need to examine ourselves, so that the life of Jesus Christ in us would not be hindered by our bitterness inside. The most important thing in life is not what we eat or what we wear, so don't waste anytime debating about the things on the outside. The most important thing is always the condition of your heart, because what fills you inside will be revealed in your words and behavior in your daily life. James 3:9-10 says "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be."
May God's Spirit examine our hearts and shine His light in our hearts so that we would know whether our words are pleasing God, because the Lord clearly says here that "things that come out of a person's mouth come from the heart, and these defile them." May God help us to cleanse our mouths, and most importantly to come before God with a clean heart.
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