What You Mutter Matters

Leviticus 19:14 "Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God.  I am the Lord."

If someone is deaf or out of hearing range from you, why does it matter if you curse or mutter something behind their back if they can't hear you? What you mutter matters because Matthew 15:18 says " But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man."

What we speak is relevant because it reveals what is in our hearts.  Luke 6:45 says that "The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks."  What is in our heart determines the fruit that we will produce in our lives.

James 3:9-12 says: "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.  My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water."

Just like the fig tree can't bear olives, a bad heart can't produce good fruit.   Bitterness and sin taint our prayers as saltwater taints fresh water.  Let's be true to our hearts by having our actions express accurately what is in our heart, for it is from our heart that flows the springs of life (Proverbs 4:23). 

It matters what you mutter.... because God hears.