Out of the heart come evil thoughts . . . these are what defile a person. Matthew 15:19β20
As long as you keep your mouth closed, I told myself, you won’t be doing anything wrong. I’d been outwardly holding back my anger toward a colleague after misinterpreting things she’d said. Since we had to see each other every day, I decided to limit communication to only what was necessary (and retaliate with my silent treatment). How could a quiet demeanor be wrong?
Jesus said that sin begins in the heart (Matthew 15:18−20). My silence may have fooled people into thinking all was well, but it wasn’t fooling God. He knew I was hiding a heart filled with anger. I was like the Pharisees who honored God with their lips, but their hearts were far from Him (v. 8). Even though my outward appearance didn’t show my true feelings, the bitterness was festering inside me. The joy and closeness I’d always felt with my heavenly Father were gone. Nurturing and hiding sin does that.
By God’s grace, I told my colleague how I was feeling and apologized. She graciously forgave me and, eventually, we became good friends. “Out of the heart come evil thoughts” (v. 19), Jesus says. The state of our heart matters because evil residing there can overflow into our lives. Both our exterior and interior matter.
Jesus said that the sin in our heart defiles us. What βevil thoughtsβ might be defiling your heart? How can you pray regarding this matter?
Loving God, please forgive me for the sins Iβve been nurturing in my heart. I want my heart to be pleasing in Your sight. Please help me to change.
When Jesus quoted Isaiah in Matthew 15:8-9, it was from a passage in which God, through the prophet, confronted the people of Jerusalem over their self-righteous religious practices (Isaiah 29:13). In that day, the people claimed to know God, but their actions proved their hearts were stone-cold. In the Messiahβs day, He directed Isaiahβs accusation specifically at the Pharisees, who were guilty of the same sin. The Pharisees had just accused Jesusβ disciples ofΒ failingΒ to wash their hands before eating. Markβs parallel account about this scene expands on the Phariseesβ unhelpful tradition (see Mark 7:3-4). There was nothing wrong with the washing of oneβs hands prior to eating. But the Pharisees had made this a requirement, elevating βhuman rulesβ to the status of God-ordained law (Matthew 15:9).