One of my favorites things about teaching HS girls bible fellowship is getting to really dive into God’s Word, allowing it to change my heart and show me things in my life I need to change, so I can turn around and share those principles with the girls in my class. We’re currently teaching through James which is one of the most practical books of the Bible when it comes to real life application.

When I began studying James 3, I found myself turning back to Matthew.  Matthew tells how our mouth is directly linked to our heart.

Matthew 12:34 says, “You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good. For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” And Matthew 15:18 says, “But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean.’”

I began to do a heart check on myself.  What are the things that I am putting in my heart?  Am I filling it with as much “God stuff” as I am with “world stuff?”  Then, I thought of my girls.  What are those things that come out of MK’s mouth that I think, “where did that come from?” Sometimes I think we just allow the world to slowly creep into our lives and it happens so slowly, we don’t even realize it is happening.  I’m so thankful for the power of God’s Word, that it is living and active and continues to change my heart to become a better follower of Christ. I am quickly realizing that I need to be filling our minds and hearts with the things of God, even more than I am. I want both their words and mine to overflow from a heart that is filled with the things of God and not all the garbage that surounds us in the world.

My plan of action was to minimize the things we listen to and see.  To help, we’ve been keeping the TV off almost the entire day and listening to some really great kiddy Bible CD’s in the van.  We love the “Awesome Power Parables.”  They share a Bible story and then sing a song (not a corny one, they are actually great).  I’m loving it when MK sings along and MJ clamps!