40 Days of Words | Day 8
Dr Jim Brown's TruNorth Devotional
40 Days of Words
Day 8 | CLEAN | Matthew 15:11
40 Days of Words
Day 8 | CLEAN | Matthew 15:11
CLEAN
Matthew 15:11
“It is not what goes into the mouth of a man that makes him unclean and defiled, but what comes out of the mouth; this makes a man unclean and defiles [him].” (AMP)
We like clean. I remember my mom telling my sisters and me: “Wash your hands before dinner.” She probably said that every day… at least until we were either doing it automatically or got married and moved out! (I remember saying this to our kids too!) It was important to mom, and she probably learned it from her folks. Washing those hands made eating cleaner and probably stopped the passing of many germs between family members.
But this verse, spoken by Jesus, is talking about being defiled, which is something deeper, something worse.
The dictionary says "defile" can mean to "make unclean or impure, to corrupt, to debase, to sully one's reputation."
Dirty hands might last a meal, but to "defile one's reputation" can last a lifetime. (Think: Bernie Madoff.)
And how does Jesus say we can defile ourselves? By the words we speak. The false, evil, lying, harmful, manipulative words that sometimes come out of our mouths.
Now, in reality, we ALL have said things that – in hindsight – we wished we hadn't… words that were negative, unclean, and perhaps defiling.
Once said, they can hurt the one they're directed towards… but also have the potential to defile the one speaking, making them unclean.
Prayer: LORD, help me to use my words for good and not for evil. To speak words of encouragement and not discouragement. To speak words that YOU want me to say. Amen.
Matthew 15:11
“It is not what goes into the mouth of a man that makes him unclean and defiled, but what comes out of the mouth; this makes a man unclean and defiles [him].” (AMP)
We like clean. I remember my mom telling my sisters and me: “Wash your hands before dinner.” She probably said that every day… at least until we were either doing it automatically or got married and moved out! (I remember saying this to our kids too!) It was important to mom, and she probably learned it from her folks. Washing those hands made eating cleaner and probably stopped the passing of many germs between family members.
But this verse, spoken by Jesus, is talking about being defiled, which is something deeper, something worse.
The dictionary says "defile" can mean to "make unclean or impure, to corrupt, to debase, to sully one's reputation."
Dirty hands might last a meal, but to "defile one's reputation" can last a lifetime. (Think: Bernie Madoff.)
And how does Jesus say we can defile ourselves? By the words we speak. The false, evil, lying, harmful, manipulative words that sometimes come out of our mouths.
Now, in reality, we ALL have said things that – in hindsight – we wished we hadn't… words that were negative, unclean, and perhaps defiling.
Once said, they can hurt the one they're directed towards… but also have the potential to defile the one speaking, making them unclean.
Prayer: LORD, help me to use my words for good and not for evil. To speak words of encouragement and not discouragement. To speak words that YOU want me to say. Amen.
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