“’Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts — murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.’” (Matthew 15:17-20, NIV)
At the time Jesus spoke these words, his audience was keenly interested in maintaining ritual purity. Eating with unwashed hands was a violation of the rules of ritual purity. In a way, it was a kind of “spiritual etiquette.” In other words, if you had good “spiritual manners,” you were deemed to be a good person. Even today, there is a kind of etiquette that confers acceptance on the consumption of the right foods, the wearing of the right clothes, residence at the right address, and friendship with the right kind of people.
Jesus’ words serve to remind us that it is not what we put into our mouth that makes us impure or unclean; but it is what we allow to come out of our mouth, since that is indicative of what is in our heart. As important as it may be to our physical health for us to watch what we eat; it is as important to our spiritual and physical health for us to watch what we say, both to others and about others. Only the latter — the condition of the heart — is of eternal consequence. – Luther
Daily Encouragement 
Luther, Your teachings and meditations are a well-spring that rejuvenates our souls every day. This one reaffirmed the truth: our words are a window on our mind. A favorite book is Rabbi Joseph Telushkin’s Words that Hurt Words that Heal. He explains on the first page of the first chapter the power of words. He tells the story of a man who offended a Rabbi and sought his forgiveness. The Rabbi told the man to take a feather pillow from his home, cut it open, and scatter the feathers to the wind and return. The man did as told and returned and asked if he was forgiven. The rabbi responded, “Almost . . . . You just have to do one more thing. Go and gather all the feathers.” The man responded that the command to gather all the feathers was impossible. The rabbi responded that it is as impossible to repair the damage done by words as to recover all the feathers. Indeed, Luther, your post this morning reaffirms that from our heart and mind come our words. We thank you for helping us daily renew our heart and mind and thereby to choose our words so to help and to heal. Kindly, John
Luther, Your teachings and meditations are a well-spring that rejuvenates our souls every day. This one reaffirmed the truth: our words are a window on our mind. A favorite book is Rabbi Joseph Telushkin’s Words that Hurt Words that Heal. He explains on the first page of the first chapter the power of words. He tells the story of a man who offended a Rabbi and sought his forgiveness. The Rabbi told the man to take a feather pillow from his home, cut it open, and scatter the feathers to the wind and return. The man did as told and returned and asked if he was forgiven. The rabbi responded, “Almost . . . . You just have to do one more thing. Go and gather all the feathers.” The man responded that the command to gather all the feathers was impossible. The rabbi responded that it is as impossible to repair the damage done by words as to recover all the feathers. Indeed, Luther, your post this morning reaffirms that from our heart and mind come our words. We thank you for helping us daily renew our heart and mind and thereby to choose our words so to help and to heal. Kindly, John