A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. Luke 6:45
A man named Stephen Greenblatt told of an unusual encounter with another passenger on an airplane. As they engaged in a conversation, the other man told Greenblatt of his son, who was in hospital with a painful condition. The son was unable to speak, and could only mouth his words, and the father was concerned that he was not very good at reading his son’s lips. He was also concerned that his son might be becoming suicidal. He asked Greenblatt if he would mouth the words ‘I want to die’ so that he might recognize them if his son were to say them. But Greenblatt said he found himself unable to mouth those words; they would simply not form on his lips. In addition to finding the request creepy, he said he could not even pretend to utter words that were so foreign to his thinking, so opposite to his convictions. That is how Christians should be about the evil around us.
A weekend at a conference is pretty special, as we listen to large numbers of believers talking about the things of the Lord. Even the talk that is not related to the Word of God is gently sprinkled with expressions of spiritual value. It’s almost as though we were transported into Heaven, to hear us talk. But do we talk like that all the time? Or, when we are in our work-a-day world, do we descend into the potty talk and sloppy language of the sinners around us? During the times when we are eating and talking and playing with family members, do we speak in loving and caring tones and terms, or do we complain and criticize and grump? We need to realize that our spiritual condition is measured not by how we talk at conferences and meetings of the Assembly, but by our conversation every day of the week and in all sorts of situations. If we fail to keep our speech free of the world’s contamination, we show that the same contamination has also reached to our hearts. And we need a spiritual housecleaning within our souls.
Just as the man in our story found it impossible to speak of wanting to die, so we as Christians should find it impossible to utter the profane and vulgar expressions that slide so readily off the tongues of the unconverted. It should smite our consciences when we are even tempted to say any of those things. There are two steps to take to reach the point where it is painful for us to engage in bad language. The first step is to fill our minds with the Word of God, and to practice quoting Scripture on every occasion. The tongue that is oft employed in uttering the holy will soon find itself loath to utter the profane. The second step is to weigh up what is wrong with the vile expressions of the world, to understand how filthy they are, and how disgusting they are for our Father to hear His children say them. We will soon find ourselves reluctant to offend Him by our talk.
Hearts that are filled with thoughts of our Lord will be associated with tongues that will want to express those thoughts at all times. – Jim MacIntosh