Out of the Abundance of the Heart....

  We have probably all heard that out of the heart the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45)...It is important that our communications are pure. Many times the heart (soul) is compared to a garden. Now, I am not much of a gardener, but my Mom always was. She loves to grow things, her flowers are beautiful, the vegetable garden was always a success and we ate out of its abundance throughout the fall and winter.

Well, that abundant garden did not just take place overnight. It took work. We had to break up the soil, removing any large rocks or debris that would impede the growth of the plants. This meant that on Saturdays when I would have loved to sleep in, she had other plans....we worked on the garden. But, if we left those objects in the dirt, the roots of the plants that we wanted to grow would not be able to go down deep enough into the soil where the nutrition was found. Then after it was planted we had to keep it watered. We also had to go in there and pull out or till out any weeds. For a teenage girl, this seemed like really hard work at the time. But the benefits of our garden was amazing! Vegetable soup made with the fresh veggies we had raised. Big, red, juicy tomatoes, that just made a burger sing.....

It's the same way with our hearts. When we have weeds in our hearts that are not bringing life to us, we need to get rid of those roots. What kinds of things are there that do not bring life? I am sure we could all name several....bitterness, unforgiveness, hatred, jealousy, pride, anger, self-righteousness...these things do not bring life to us or to any one around us. A pure heart loves others with only the very best of intentions.

In order to have a pure heart, we have to keep our hearts in check. We have to be intentional about the types of things we are taking into our hearts, because once we have "weeds" they have a tendency to get out of control and take over our gardens.

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. - Proverbs 4:23

Today's Vow: I Will Love You With a Pure Heart
The Challenge: Keep the lines of communication open so that you can talk with your husband about the things that are on your heart. Nip anger in the bud by letting go of it instead of allowing it room to grow.

One of my blogging friends pointed out to me that these characteristics we are trying to bring into our lives not only apply to marriage, but can be carried over to our other relationships as well. I was glad she pointed that out....I like to think that anything we are learning can have multiple facets. When you learn to take things that you have heard and experienced and apply to other situations, that is wisdom...Thanks Gladys for reminding us of that.

 Be Blessed!

Regina