The Overflow Of Your Heart

"You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him."

Matthew 12:34-35

Why was Jesus so critical of the Pharisees? They tried to live by God's law. They weren't thieves or murderers. They were respected members of the society. Yet Jesus had more patience for outright criminals than he had for the Pharisees. He treated tax collectors and prostitutes kindly, but he called the Pharisees a bunch of venomous snakes!

The Pharisees loved to impress people with their lengthy public prayers and their religious practices, but Jesus their hearts. They were preoccupied with how pious they appeared on the outside, while, while on the inside they were critical, judgmental, and proud. They were religious teachers, but their goals was not to lead others closer to God. It was to show everyone how spiritual they were. They pitied everyone else for being wretched sinners, they were blinded to their own sin. They had no clue how they looked in God's eyes.

Self-deception is a crafty enemy. We may think we're fooling everyone around us with the spiritual act we put on, but we are usually the only ones deceived. It's hard to keep what's in our hearts from coming out through our words. If we're filled with jealousy, we can't help cutting down others. If we're judgmental, we criticize others more often than we realize. In unguarded moments, our anger slips out in bitter, hurtful words. There's no sense wasting our energy trying to say all the right things if our hearts are not right with Jesus. We need to get our hearts right before God, and good things will follow naturally.