Courage

Matthew 15:11 “Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”

It was a beautiful summer weekend. The wife and I arrived, impromptu at a beloved Aunt and Uncles place to connect with family I may have never met before. 27 years on, I am still the New Guy at most of these family gatherings. I do have a valid excuse for not knowing who’s who, as we’ve been out of state for about 20 years.

As the evening wore on, past the re-introductions, guys standing around and asking what you do or did do. And a little while after that, what I knew was coming, the lowering to the lowest common denominator. Jokes, guy jokes.

I have found through 60 years of life as a guy, when we get together, we get stupid. And it doesn’t even require beer. The jokes start and even before I was a Believer, I was uncomfortable.

What was running through my mind was Matthew 15:18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.

They started telling jokes and these were not really bad jokes. But these were family members, that should have known better, and I was standing there, very unhappy with them and myself because I’m standing there not doing anything about it, so I was sharing their sin.

Being new to this, a believer in Christ, I had no tools to speak to these guys where they would listen. Short of calling fire down on their heads, which would cause uncomfortable questions from the wives on what did you do to my husband and over what?
These are mostly Scandinavian stock and not very forgiving as a rule, over simple things like this.

What comes out of your mouth, reflects what is in your heart. One of the first things to change in me was how I talked. I was never real bad but we all tell ourselves the same thing. Once you accept Christ, repent and believe, if you have truly done this, the Holy Spirit will come into you and start making changes. Now, just because the Holy Spirit is in you does not mean you stop sinning, no, but you start sinning less. And if you ask the Holy Spirit to take control of your life, your thoughts and actions, your life starts changing for real.

If you are not feeling a change within you after accepting Christ, ask the Lord what is holding you back. Try this “Oh Heavenly Father, please show me what is holding me back from your blessings, grant me the knowledge of what I need to do to walk within your Will.” Thank HIM and praise HIM for HIS Grace and Mercy. A consistent and earnest prayer of something like this will definitely show you what the problem is. It has shown me in full living color, what exactly is wrong with me and what to do about it.

I am continually surprised at people’s unbelief of the power of Prayer. Our Father wants to hear from you, often, and is more than happy to give what you ask for, as long as it is in line with his Will. What is his Will? Ask HIM. HE wants you to ask.

I have since learned from my Lord what to say and do, but mostly be courageous enough to speak out. The Lord never puts you into a situation that you can’t handle. Ask for courage from our Lord. We all need more of it.