Red - Week 4: Daily Reflection Thursday, October 29, 2015

This week our daily reflections will be focused once again on one of the "hard sayings" of Jesus.  The difficult words of Jesus that we're wrestling with this week come to us from Matthew 5:22 where Jesus said, "But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, 'Raca,' is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell."

In Luke 6:45 Jesus teaches what it means when our outside matches our inside--when we our words reveal what we are really like on the inside.    

A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

I've known a guy my whole life, the kind of guy I call a "One-Upper."  Maybe you've run into these kinds of people from time to time.  It doesn't matter what you say or share with them about yourself--they've done one better.  

You'll say something like, "I went to the gym today and worked out for the first time in a month."  And the One-Upper will say, "Dude, after you start going every day like me, then you'll totally be able to bench press 400lbs like I did yesterday."

Or you'll share that your son made it on the Honor Roll at school, and the One-Upper will say something like, "We're thinking of enrolling our little Sissy in gifted classes because that school is just not challenging enough for her."    

The reason why the One-Uppers in our life drive us so crazy is because we know deep down inside that the reason their one-upping comments sound like desperate attempts at superiority by an insecure person---is because they are. 

And we know this deep down inside because we have more in common with the One-Uppers than we'd like to admit.  Each of us struggles with our own fears, insecurities, and we also contend with pride, which often keeps us from admitting that we might not have it all together.

What Jesus wants us to understand is that as measured and controlled as we'd like to believe our speech might be, as much as we think we are masking what's really going on inside of us, our words betray us, will always end up revealing who we really are.    

The key to ensuring that our words are pure, uplifting, life-giving and true is to make sure our hearts are in the right place first.  "For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of." 

What is your heart full of today?  Will your words reveal a heart that is full of fear, anxiety, anger, insecurity and doubt?  Or will your words reveal a heart filled to overflowing with love, hope, peace and grace?