Daily Lesson for April 30, 2015

Today's daily lesson comes from Luke chapter 6 verse 45:

"The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks."

If we want to know what is in our hearts we need only listen to our words; for it is out of the heart that our words are spoken. 

If we speak words of blessing and peace and encouragement to others then we are at that moment living and drawing from the fullness of our own hearts. In fact, this is what the word "encouragement" means -- to "enhearten" another. When we speak words of encouragement and love we always speak them from the fullness of our own hearts. 

At the same time, when we speak words of discouragement, belittling, and anger these too come forth from within our own hearts. When we come home and scream at the kids or our spouse or the dog, it is not the kids, spouse, or dog who has made us angry. Anger existed inside us before we ever made it home; it was just looking for a self-justification for erupting. 

Yesterday I spoke harshly to one of my sons, "You are really frustrating me right now."  That was not a true statement. The truth is I was frustrated; and I spoke out of my own frustration. To blame him for my frustration was an abdication of my own personal responsibility for myself and an act of self-deception. The unconscious mind is a master at this. 

In the same context of this teaching Jesus also said, "First remove the log from your own eye so that you can see clearly how to remove the speck from your neigh it's eye." When we rebuke others in anger and frustration and any other spirit other than that of peace and love then we can bet we are examining their specks in their eyes, but the log is in our own. 

What is going on in our hearts?  We can tell in the substance and tone of our words. For out of the abundance of our heart, our mouths speak.