I should guard my mouth and tongue if I want to avoid calamity. I should be as choosy with the words that come out as I am choosy with the food that goes in. I can easily keep dirty food out of my mouth. Why then is it not easy for me to stop dirty words from coming out? The reason it is easy to keep from eating foul food is because I have been practicing and daily working at it since I was an infant. If it smells rotten and looks to be decayed, then I will naturally not eat it. So, it is reasonable to assume that if I continually practice and work at watching my words, then I will eventually and naturally be able to keep my words in check.
Just as I use other senses to determine what I can and cannot eat (sight and smell), I can determine what makes me say something bad before I create self-made calamity. Jesus wisely taught those who spoke words that bring calamity, “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:33-37, 15:16-20; Luke 6:43-45)
So how to monitor the heart before it tells the mouth to speak words of self-filled calamity? Better yet, how to change an evil heart to a good heart so that I naturally speak good words instead of evil words? Hezekiah prayed this during the Passover because many people had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written, “May the LORD, who is good, pardon everyone who sets his heart on seeking God–the LORD, the God of his fathers–even if he is not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary.” And the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people.” (2 Chronicles 30:18-20) So, I can turn to God in prayer asking him to purify my evil heart. Then I will be clean.
As Jesus proclaimed, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:31-32) Jesus can make me clean. Then my heart will be guarded and I will be kept from calamity. “…if the Son sets you free (from your evil heart), you will be free indeed.” (John 8:35)
