“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.” 
Luke 6:45

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”
Ephesians 4:29

---

“If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all,” goes the popular adage. But Jesus takes it one step further—if you don’t have anything nice to say, examine your heart as to why. If there is any “evil stored up in [our] heart,” we need to bring it before God. He already knows it’s there; our laying it at His feet is an act of obedience on our part that serves to sanctify us, as often as needed.

If we want to bring an end to the hatred and evil “out there,” we must begin by excavating the hatred and evil stored up in our own hearts. This can look as minor as envy, resentment, or judgment. But often, we’d rather point the finger at everyone else. Because pointing it back to ourselves is daunting, shameful, and convicting. Having our sinfulness held up in front of us to look at is not at the top of our to-do list. 

Yet this is exactly how we show up at the cross—broken and flawed, in desperate need of God’s grace to envelop us. He delights in seeing hearts cleansed and transformed, no matter how stained they’ve become or how long it takes. The distance between the heart and our vocal cords is short, yet the time it takes for this space to be purified of anything sinful can take a lifetime. This should not discourage us; rather, it should help affirm our dire need for Jesus in a fallen world and continue to remind us that we can’t do anything apart from Him.

Our mouth will speak what our heart is full of. What is your mouth speaking lately? What is your heart full of? Is it “helpful for building others up”? Our words have so much power to do good or to do harm. Let us use them as bridges rather than blades. And if we find we have nothing nice to say, let that serve as a signal that we need to sort something out with God—for the distance between our hearts and God’s is only one prayer away.

Next Steps

After some reflection, pray and ask God to search your heart and heal whatever is broken, that you may be a voice of love in a world that desperately needs it.

Reflect on the words you speak this week and how often they are life-giving and uplifting and how often they are unwholesome and injurious.