What comes from your heart?
It was a cold, rainy day and I remember laying on the couch in my family room when I was sixteen-years-old. A commercial came on the TV that was promoting the latest diet craze of the 90's called the Adkins Diet, in other words "eat every type of fat and protein and still lose weight". My mind was tormented by the thought that someone could eat all that fat and still lose weight. The math just didn't add up. But then again, I was an extreme anorexic who counted every calorie and abhorred anything that used the word "fat".
This sounds ridiculous but after the commercial was done, I began crying. My dad came downstairs and saw that I was quite upset and asked what was wrong. I replied, "I hate being fat! I wish there was a magic pill that could just make me skinny forever!"
My brain was so obsessed with thinness and self-absorbed that I didn't take a second to see the heartbroken look on my father's face. I was only consumed with me. I was so concerned with what went into my mouth that I became unaware of the impact of the words coming out of my mouth from a very prideful, judgmental heart.
Today, I read the story about Jesus being confronted by the teachers of religious law in Israel when his disciples would not go through the ceremonial ritual of washing their hands before eating. The pharisees were so obsessed with the laws of their religion that every relationship around them, including with God, was second priority and damaged. They couldn't see that their own self-righteousness was actually their greatest downfall.
"Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. 'All of you listen,' he said, 'and try to understand. It's not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart'" (Mark 7:14, 15 NLT).
Jesus, the God of the universe and Creator of all people, is more concerned about what comes from our hearts instead of what we eat, what laws we keep or how "good" we look. He knows everything about us, including our deepest secrets, thoughts and obsessions. Someday, when we stand before Him in heaven He will not congratulate us on how well we checked off the boxes for our Bible reading or how often we sat in the same pew at church. No, He will say, "Well done, good and faithful servant, you loved those I put in your life and chose to prioritize love over the confines of religion."
Jesus wants us to live a righteous and holy life, but He also doesn't want us to lose sight of the greatest goal---to love others so they can know Him personally as their Savior. That's His number one priority.
I have hurt many people through my own personal obsessions with thinness, righteousness and perfection. I wish I could go back and think less of myself and more about others, but I can't. I learned some hard lessons that now fuel my desire to love people beyond the surface; love them more than judge them. I won't be remembered for how beautiful I looked or how perfect my life seemed to be. Nope, people will remember be by how my actions measured up to my words and whether they experienced love or judgment.
Today, I want to chose love over the law. I want to prioritize relationships more than religion. I want to ask myself: What comes from my heart?
