Issues from the Heart
“Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing .... Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh” (James 3:10-12).
I remember hearing the words of Tonto, the Native American companion of the Lone Ranger, describing the attributes of an outlaw to his friend. He said, “He speak with forked tongue.” In other words, he could not be trusted to speak the truth. The phrase, “A forked tongue” is also used to portray someone who speaks lies and truth, cursing and blessings from the same mouth. When you are around someone like that it is hard to know when they are being honest and when they are being deceitful. You can’t trust them. They tell the truth one moment and in the next tell a lie, or they mix a lie with just enough truth to make you believe it all as the truth.
One day we will be held accountable for every word that comes out of our mouths. It is easy to fall into the “forked tongue” trap if we don’t guard our heart. Every day we should take inventory of our heart and make sure we do it with diligence because what the heart harbors, the lips proclaim. “Lord, help me to speak truth at all times. Help me to be diligent about every word that proceeds from my lips. Help my lips speak from a pure heart.”
Scripture Reading:
Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life
-Proverbs 4:23
“Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing .... Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh” (James 3:10-12).
I remember hearing the words of Tonto, the Native American companion of the Lone Ranger, describing the attributes of an outlaw to his friend. He said, “He speak with forked tongue.” In other words, he could not be trusted to speak the truth. The phrase, “A forked tongue” is also used to portray someone who speaks lies and truth, cursing and blessings from the same mouth. When you are around someone like that it is hard to know when they are being honest and when they are being deceitful. You can’t trust them. They tell the truth one moment and in the next tell a lie, or they mix a lie with just enough truth to make you believe it all as the truth.
One day we will be held accountable for every word that comes out of our mouths. It is easy to fall into the “forked tongue” trap if we don’t guard our heart. Every day we should take inventory of our heart and make sure we do it with diligence because what the heart harbors, the lips proclaim. “Lord, help me to speak truth at all times. Help me to be diligent about every word that proceeds from my lips. Help my lips speak from a pure heart.”
Scripture Reading:
Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life
-Proverbs 4:23
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