Detoxing the Heart

By Andrea Merrell

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart 

brings forth good;and an evil man out of the 

evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil.

For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Luke 6:45 NKJV

My friend does a “colon cleanse” on a regular basis. Maybe it’s a good thing … just never appealed to me.

There are a number of products on the market to cleanse, detox, and purify in order to rid ourselves of poisonous toxins that hide in our body.

But what about the heart?

Luke tells us that out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks. That means whatever my heart is filled with will spill out of my mouth. Most of the time that’s a good thing. Other times, not so much. Let’s look at the Message translation:

You don’t get wormy apples off a healthy tree, nor good apples off a diseased tree. The health of the apple tells the health of the tree. You must begin with your own life-giving lives. It’s who you are, not what you say and do, that counts. Your true being brims over into true words and deeds.

 Ouch!

To avoid this, Proverbs 4:23 also tells us to guard our hearts above all else, for it determines the course of your life (NLT). Sounds great, but not always easy to do. Because we live in a fallen world—not to mention the effects of the media—my ears hear things they should never hear. My eyes see things they should never see. And my mind dwells on things it should never think about in the first place. Can you relate?

So, what’s the answer? How do we clean out all the sludge that keeps us from thinking, hearing, seeing, and doing what is pleasing to our Father?

First, we ask for forgiveness (I John 1:9). Then we ask for cleansing and a renewed mind (Psalm 51). Next, we take every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:5) and dwell on things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8). Cleansing the body is a healthy habit, but let’s makes purifying our hearts a higher priority.

The next time your mouth gives always the crud hiding within, ask God to detox your heart.

(Photos courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net/Stuart Miles/usamedeniz.)

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When your mouth betrays you, ask God to detox your heart. (Click to Tweet.)

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