And he called the multitude, and said unto them,
Hear, and understand:
Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man;
but that which cometh out of the mouth,
this defileth a man. Matthew 15:10-11
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity:
so is the tongue among our members,
that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature;
and it is set on fire of hell. James 3:6
Keeping free of Defilement
What thoughts do you contemplate?
Do you entertain?
Allow to stay in your mind and Heart?
And then speak of?
What thoughts do you allow to live and breathe in your being
and then allow them come out of your mouth?
Jesus is saying, use your spiritual eyes to understand:
For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts,
murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
These are the things which defile a man:
but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man. Matthew 15:19-20
We have all seen and heard evil things, by pictures, music,
from a neighbor, a coworker, a friend
What kind of a process do you use in your own life to purge those thoughts?
Jesus said it’s not what goes into a man defiles a man but what comes out
Of course this is true
It’s also true that we are to tear down evil thoughts in our minds,
not to focus on them,
not to give them credence
Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising,
thou understandest my thought afar off. Psalm 139:2
Casting down imaginations,
and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God,
and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
2 Corinthians 10:5
Every action was once a thought
Every word was a thought
an example is unforgiveness,
which can turn to bitterness
and bitterness defiles many
and can even turn to hate,
which is the equivalent of murder in God’s sight
So the battle is inside
And it is different for each of us
It’s not always easy to recognize
The Psalmist described the wicked:
The wicked, through the pride of his countenance,
will not seek after God:
God is not in all his thoughts. Psalm 10:4
If we do not weigh our thoughts against the Word of God,
those things we allow to remain in our minds,
we are in for a fall
It’s not easy to do,
wrestle with our own thoughts
and what we allow to stay in our hearts
and then allow them to come out of our mouths
Realizing and submitting to God in your heart
is part of taking up our cross and following Jesus daily
It is part of putting the old man to death
living in the spirit, not the flesh,
living in the kingdom and not the world
knowing what His word says about each situation
Cling to no evil thought
Learn to recognize the battle and submit those thoughts to God
to cleanse, to heal, to restore, to renew,
on the way to becoming a new creature in Christ
Scriptural References:
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17
For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. 1 Peter 3:18
Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts; And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:24
Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. 1 John 3:15