Heart, Mind, Mouth Connection - Laetitia van Schalkwyk

 

In Matthew 15:16-20, Jesus says: (the Passion Translation)

“Even after all that I’ve taught you, you still remain clueless? Is it hard to understand that whatever you eat enters the stomach only to pass out into the sewer? But what comes out of your mouth reveals the core of your heart. Words can pollute, not food. You will find living within an impure heart evil ideas, murderous thoughts, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, lies, and slander. That is what pollutes a person. Eating with unwashed hands doesn’t defile anyone”.

Did you know? What you say about other people are more of a reflection on you than on them?

Did you know? Talking about the unholiness of others, does not make you more holy?

The Bible makes it clear that our thinking and our hearts are inseparably linked. What we think in our hearts, in turn, affects our actions. Jesus Christ himself confirmed the connection in Matthew 15:19.

For instance:  If you meditate or focus on your spouses’ flaws, the list will grow.

If you keep on meditating or focus on flaws and look for shortcomings in your spouse, believe me, sooner or later “divorce” will enter your mind and you WILL find a reason for divorce.

If you look for a reason to divorce you will easily find it.

“Love is large and incredibly patient. Love is gentle and consistently kind to all. It refuses to be jealous when blessing comes to someone else. Love does not brag about one’s own achievements nor inflate its own importance. Love does not traffic in shame and disrespect, nor selfishly seek its own honor. Love is not easily irritated or quick to take offense. Love joyfully celebrates honesty and finds no delight in what is wrong. Love is a safe place of shelter, for it never stops believing the best for others.  Love never takes failure as defeat, for it never gives up”. 1 Cor 13:3-7 Passion Translation

In Afrikaans it says: “Liefde hou nie boek van die kwaad nie”.

In English it means, you don’t keep record of someone’s shortcomings.

If you meditate or focus on the shortcomings of your spouse, your children, your parents, the person that you report to at work, the list will grow, because that is where your energy flows.

And in due time you will be the unhappiest person on planet earth because you allowed your mind to poison you.

Where the mind goes, the man follows.

Proverbs 23:7 says, “For as he thinks within himself, so is he”.

Robert Jones said: “Train the mind and the body will follow”

That is why what you think about matters, because it is forming the basis of who you will become.

Does who you are inside and what you speak on the outside, line up? The Pharisees, for example, were very good at presenting themselves as very pious, religious people, yet Jesus called them hypocrites.

This word “hypocrite” in the Greek means actor. The Pharisees were playing a role on the outside that did not reflect who they really were. If you need to know who a person really is, you must look at the root of who they are, and that root is the heart. Everything a person is, flows out of what is in their heart.

So, guard your heart.Jesus said you will know a tree by its fruit. The fruit of the tree is simply a reflection of the root it is connected to. The core of who you are is evidenced by the thoughts or roots of your heart. That is why what is on the inside is so much more important than what is on the outside. You can mask the outside to others, and you can try to bury it to the world around you. But what’s in your heart will reveal who you really are.

If you want your heart to be transformed, then you must bring your mind up to a new quality.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable.

Rather. Meditate on these things.

The opposite is also true.

Romans 12:2 TPT says

“Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think. This will empower you to discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in his eyes.”

I want to challenge you today!

Change the atmosphere by changing your sound.

Change the atmosphere by the renewing of your mind.

I want to challenge couples today!

Tonight, before you fall asleep, tell your spouse to kiss you for at least 15 seconds.

But before you kiss!  Ha-ha!  Other wise you might not get to the rest of the challenge once you start kissing.

Take turns.  Tell your spouse what you appreciate about him / her.

Then do the 15 seconds kiss challenge.

I am married to one of the finest men on planet earth.

If I don't tell him how much I appreciate him, how will he know? 

If you do not tell others how much you appreciate them, how will they know?

I am challenging you to start making honoring each other a habit.

The moment it is a habit, and your mind transformed, I promise you, you will live a happier life.

Enjoy the kissing challenge!

Laetitia van Schalkwyk