The calendar and the pocketbook reveal a lot about your priorities. The conduct and comments of our children reveal a lot about your home life. Your work habits reveal a lot about your ethics and integrity. But the clearest indication of a person's heart is their speech.
Peoples' words, especially those spoken under pressure, reveal their true nature. You've heard that before. Someone hits their thumb instead of the nail. The volleyball hits them in the face. The windshield on the car is broken in an accident. Life's instantaneous pressure can cause you to react in a strong way. When you are in the "pressure cooker" of life, a lot can be revealed about your character. Matthew 12:34 reminds us that "Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks."
Bob Russell suggests, "The mouth is the billboard of the heart because it publicizes the content of our character." When your guard goes down, the best expression of who you really are on the inside is what words you speak. And when the pressure is on, you tend to accentuate what truly dwells in your heart most of the time.
There is a positive side to this though. Positive and encouraging words that build up and are God-honoring will reveal a true heart that, even under pressure, is doing the God's will. You and I have these opportunities for encouragement every day. What words do you speak?
Jesus said it best (as He usually does) in the verses that follow Matthew 12:34: "35The 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. 36But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."
Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. What are our words reflecting about our hearts toward God? I'm praying that God will help all of us reflect His character in our language.
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