When the calendar announces the month of February, I start rummaging around for anything in the shape of a heart. Jewelry, mugs, cookies, and cards serve as my personal props. And — since red is my favorite color — I revel in a world awash with this vibrant statement from the artist’s palette.

But matters of the heart reach far beyond Valentine’s Day, and paint a greater hue on the canvas of our lives than we might realize. Herein lies the reason: A direct connection exists between our heart and our words. Jesus makes this evident in Matthew 12:34b: “For whatever is in your heart determines what you say” (NLT).

Words We Regret

How often have you:

• Turned from a conversation
• Backed out of a driveway
• Walked out of church
• Hung up the phone
• Boarded a plane
• Left a table discussion
• Departed a conference
• Ended a meal
• Waved good-bye to the children as they left for school

And thought, “I wish I had not said what I said just then!” Instead of sowing a life-giving seed of encouragement, a quip, a retort, a criticism, or a quick comeback overruled your verbiage.

How Does This Happen?

For me, it seems that sometimes a thin, razor-sharp edge exists between what I say and what I wanted to say. Why, the other day, I was shocked at my response to a an unhelpful fast-food employee. Has that ever happened to you? Like me, did you quickly take in your surroundings to make sure no one else heard you?

Well, definitively, Jesus provides the explanation we need. “For whatever is in your heart determines what you say” (NLT).

The mouth speaks what the heart manufactures. In our spiritual anatomy — at the heart of the matter — God created heart and mouth to coalesce in such a way that harmony and blessings ensue. And, words of blessing and benefit to others flow out of a heart held His Hands.

Jesus makes it clear for us, and Jesus longs to help us. He meets us right where we are — fast food restaurant or shuttling the tribe to after school activities—as we pray: “Lord Jesus, please make my heart so centered on You, so saturated with You, so solid in You, so sold-out to You, that the overflow from my heart produces words that bless.” Not just at Valentine’s.

Living With Eternal Intentionality®

What are your thoughts? How do the words of Jesus have an impact on your thinking regarding the connection between your words and your heart? Please comment, since what you have to say in significant.

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord my rock and my redeemer” (Psalm 19:14 ESV).

“Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear” (Ephesians 4:29 NASB).

Debby Thompson, author of The Leader’s Wife, Living With Eternal Intentionality®, is an award-winning writer and speaker. Debby and her husband Larry have served in global missions with Campus Crusade for Christ International (CCCI) since 1974, and are counted among the pioneering Western missionaries who lived covertly behind the Iron Curtain in communist Poland. They and their three children were witnesses to a period of dramatic social, political and spiritual change. Now living in Cincinnati, Debby serves on the Global Leadership Council of Athletes in Action International, the sports ministry of Cru. An active grandmother of six, she is also a sought-after author, speaker, and mentor for women around the world. Debby blogs at DebbyThompson.com. You may mail her at [email protected].

Originally published at debbythompson.com. Used by permission.