Working with leaders over the years, I have often remarked to them, “If you will reveal your thoughts to me, I will reveal your future to you.” “What you meditate on, you will become over time.”
Our words are simple expressions of the thoughts of our heart. These thoughts are dictated and defined by our values. What we value is what is important to us; it motivates us and is the foundation and fuel of our motivation. While the word “motives” has become a negative concept in our culture, motives can be good or bad, depending on the value system that drives them. Jesus told the religious elite of his day that their hearts were filled with treasure (values), either good or bad, and those values find expression through our words.
Luke 6:45 “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”
One of the interesting things about what Jesus says is how He classifies the man in the illustration as either good or evil. I believe that this is determined not by his (the man) perfection but rather by his motivation. And his motivation begs to question; is he self-focused or is he others-focused, is he funneling in toward himself and becoming smaller all the while, or is he funneling out and becoming larger with each revolution as our text? Our popular culture says that we need to become more self aware, more me-o-centric, but this is the mantra of humanism. Christianity teaches that we should become more God conscious and Christ-o-centric. Simply put, when there is less of me, there is room in my heart for more of Him and others.