What is Coming from Your Heart?

It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.” Mark 7:15 NLT

Today many are concerned about what they eat and drink. There are many commercials and advertisement about eating right, doing exercise to have a healthy body. While that is all good, what are we doing to make sure our heart, our soul and our spirit are also healthy?

There should be more concern about our spiritual being, because the physical body will one day decay, but our spiritual being, our soul will live on forever. In Mark 7, the Pharisees questioned Jesus and asked why His disciples were not following the ritual of washing their hands before eating. The Pharisees were more concern about outward actions, but Jesus was concern about the inner being, condition of man.

Nothing is wrong with washing of hands before eating, but that does not mean anything to God. God is looking at our hearts. God is more interested in what is in our heart, than the keeping of traditions or rituals. While the Pharisees made sure their hands were clean, their hearts were defiled, unclean. Their thoughts and the things they did, like dishonor their parents by not taking care of them was displeasing to God. One of God’s commandments is to honor your mother and father, that means to take care of them. Many people today have forsaken or abandon their parents who are in need, to only satisfy their desire for things.

What is coming out of your heart? And then Jesus added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.” Mark 7:20-23 NLT

While we are so concern about what goes in our physical body, let’s ensure that we are more concern about our heart, our spiritual condition. Who may stand in his holy place? Only those whose hands and hearts are pure, who do not worship idols and never tell lies. They will receive the Lord’s blessing and have a right relationship with God their Savior, Psalm 24:3b -5 NLT.