Examining the Heart

 DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

EXAMINING THE HEART

1 Cor 8:7-8

7 But not everyone knows this. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. 8 But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.

NIV

Although Paul is still talking about the people of the Corinthians church in Greece where there were so many false gods, with various statures or temples dedicated to them and they had become idols to the people who brought baskets of food and left them at the feet of their gods. The point he was making is there is no difference between that food and food that was not ever sacrificed to those false gods, for the sacrificed food means nothing. We are reminded of the words of our Lord when he said that all food means nothing, it just goes in the mouth and out the body, therefore it does not defile the body, but what comes out our mouths, which is what is in our hearts that can defile our body. Jesus was talking to the Pharisees that accused his disciples of eating with unwashed hands. Again, they had made the law their idol. We cannot get caught up in this pitfall of looking to the law, or as we have put that law of the old covenant aside, we have made up our own rules to live by that are not based on the new covenant. We should know that is not about what food or drink we consume because all of it is meaningless, as it goes in the mouth and out of the body. Although for the most part, many do not make any fuss about food but still consider certain drinks sinful and unacceptable for believers to drink. We wonder if those believers are as concerned about what comes out of their mouths as what goes in them. Those that are free to eat and drink whatever should also be aware of what comes out of their mouths. Paul will go on to talk about not being a stumbling block to the weak believer who is still stuck in the old covenant. We must deal with that next, but for now, we must conclude that whatever a believer eats or drinks or not eats of drinks does not bring them any closer to God. Again, it is not about what goes in the mouth or what does not go in the mouth that makes any difference, but what comes out of our mouths makes a world of difference because that comes from our hearts. The list Jesus gave that comes out of the heart is pretty harsh, which one is slander. The others are obvious to all believers, but this slander stems from having a critical or judgmental heart which Jesus calls evil. Slander maligns the character of a person. Slander is used by Jesus as giving false witness, which in our times might be seen as gossip. This is evil that comes out of our mouths, and we should be more concerned about the words that come out of our mouths than what goes in them. What we eat and drink does not make us unclean, but what we say could make us unclean. Let us live accordingly, examining our hearts before we speak.