Heart Monitor

I had an interesting interaction with a young fellow the other day. Upon first impression, he seemed to be a rare specimen of a polite gentleman...but it wasn't long at all before he unabashedly threw a few swear words into the otherwise perfectly normal small talk, as if he were trying to find some way to include them. And just like that, his supposed gentleman status vanished like so much mist. (Call me old-fashioned, but if you fellows really must swear, don't do it in front of a lady!) What was this oxymoron, that "ma'am" and "&#!%" could come out of the same mouth, separated by hardly more than five minutes?

"Out of the heart the mouth speaks," said Jesus, and a person's vocabulary is indeed a good indicator of who he or she truly is. Just as you can often tell where people are from by their accents, you may detect their internal culture through the content of their language. Complaining, swearing, gossip, cynicism, crudeness, etc. mark the speaker as a certain kind of person, while positive, self-controlled, uplifting, encouraging, and wholesome talk reveals a different sort of heart. Since the tongue is such a difficult thing to control (see James 3:7-8), it will sooner or later unmask us. What does your tongue say about your heart?

Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.

My brothers, this should not be!

James 3:10