From the desk of Pastor Ben
The Principle of the True Heart – Part 2

“For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.”     (Matthew 12:34b-35)

James understood Jesus’ true heart principle, and his letter contains some powerful warnings about the tongue:

“If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless.” (James 1:26)

“No one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.”
                                    (James 3:8)

The mouth is the ultimate expression of mankind’s depraved heart (Romans 3:13-14; Proverbs 23:7).
The heart is the vast and varied reservoir the mouth draws its expressions from. With that figure of speech Jesus again emphasizes the fact that good produces good and bad produces bad (James 3:11).
One of the earliest acronyms from the computer world is GIGO; “garbage in, garbage out.” If a programmer, or even an average user, inserts bad data or inaccurate information while running a certain computer application, that will affect the outcome negatively. In the same way, the good or bad content of one’s heart determines what a person says, defining in a major way the principle of the true heart.

Ask Yourself:
How would you measure the quality of what you are taking into your heart on a regular basis? If you’re not convinced that it’s the best kind of content to be dwelling on, what changes could you make to your “diet”?