💗What Your Words Reveal About Your Heart

“Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt

Ouch. That quote can be very convicting.

Every so often it’s a good practice to examine and evaluate ourselves. 2 Corinthians 13:5 (NIV) says, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?”

And a great place to begin examining ourselves is by what comes out of our mouth because it directly reveals the content of our heart.

“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 (NIV)

The quote by Eleanor Roosevelt that began this post is a practical tool we can use to gauge our heart condition and the heart condition of our POSSE, the group we regularly hang out with.

It can be sobering to see our heart – on display – right before our eyes by the habitual words that we speak.

Is the majority of our talk about other people?

Is the majority of our talk about events?

Is the majority of our talk about ideas?

If you’re in the last category, thank you for your example. You are in the top 5% of people living with integrity and character. You are a HERO and MENTOR – a LEADER WORTH FOLLOWING.

There are times when we examine ourselves and should have (what leadership and personal growth mentors call) our “day of disgust”. A day that we become so repulsed by our thoughts, words, and actions (and their consequences) that we say, “ENOUGH!”

Is it time to uplevel your speech?

Is it time to uplevel your reference group?

If you’re ready to uplevel, the only way that will happen is for you to begin exposing yourself to the people and content (what you’re watching, listening to, & reading) that will deposit the kind of seeds that you want to reap a harvest on. And then make it habitual.

This constantly convicts me and challenges me.

And in this place of quiet reflection, it is a great time to take a page out of King David’s playbook – the man who is said to have a heart after God – and adopt his prayer from Psalm 19:14 (NIV),

“May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”