Out of the Heart... (Proverbs 16:23)

16: 23 A wise man's heart guides his mouth, and his lips promote instruction.

The heart guides the mouth. "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." (Mt.12:34) One may speak in error, but there is a very real sense that what a person says is evidence of what's in their heart. Could it also be said that how one speaks could indicate a heart condition as well? How one speaks may be subject to interpretation, but what they say is a matter of record.

How has this worked in my life? I can remember times when what I said was so important to me that if possible I would write it out and review what I wrote just so I could rehearse the way I thought I wanted to be understood. One time I typed an angry email with little intention of mailing it. By the process of writing it, I better understood the issue and was able to process the whole matter much better and from a Godly perspective.

If my heart guides my mouth I had better occupy myself with the issue of what I allow into my heart. Garbage in, garbage out-GIGO. It works like that in the heart too. The Word of God is "perfect," "right,", and "pure."--Ps.19. It's "the perfect food" for the soul, so it needs to be the priority of my intentions. I wake up and have a quiet time, worship time, and/or listen to John MacArthur teach the Word of God-- whatever I have the time to do before starting the day. I have grown desirous of having a quiet time at dusk if I did not get one at dawn. In any case, I always think that I need to "bathe myself" in the Word of God. It's as necessary as a daily shower.

In addition, the Lord has directed me to meditate on Scripture and write a response to that meditation as I am doing here. I have not "blogged" until tonight and don't know if I will continue in this format. I have been filling up moleskins of meditations. God has challenged me to think deeply about each verse I read in Proverbs and to answer a follow up question: How has this verse applied to my life? Not the typical, "How can I apply this verse to my life?" but "How has this verse applied to my life?" It's forced me to dig deep and has most often struck pure gold. He has done much in my life that I have not processed well. Time to process better, and it starts by thinking and then praying and then writing.

So, how have my "lips promoted instruction?" Well, I'm a classroom teacher. So there is an obvious place. And I do feel very accountable for everything I say in the classroom. I have also endevoured to teach other teachers at conferences in the area of mathematics instruction. But I hope that my contributions at teacher meetings, or church meetings, or every day people contacts have in some way promoted some kind of instruction toward the good, the true, or the beautiful. And forgive me, Father, for my careless words. Amen.