The mouth and the heart are inextricably linked. Jesus taught: “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). Swearing, cursing, criticizing, berating, and gossiping all flow from beliefs, thoughts, and feelings inside us. At the same time, words that build up others, comfort, encourage, and impart wisdom arise from our innermost beings. Each of us must ask ourselves which adjectives best describe the general trajectory of our speech. If we want to change our words, we must ask God to transform our hearts.

Solomon counseled: “My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad indeed; my inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right” (Proverbs 23:15-16). In order to receive wisdom from God, we must first bend the knees of our hearts to Him (see Proverbs 1:7). Principles void of a personal relationship with our Creator do not define wisdom. Rather, wisdom is predicated upon a surrendered, personal intimacy with the God of the Universe. In that connection, we learn God’s street smarts by reading, studying, memorizing, and meditating on passages from the Bible, releasing His common sense into our words.

When you are in the heat of a conflict, recognize common sense counts. When you are ready to say something that might damage the relationship, realize common sense counts. If you are thinking about making a foolish choice apart from God’s design for your life, recite to yourself, “Common sense counts.”

Read a chapter in Proverbs each day. Correspond that chapter number with the date of the month in order to read it completely every thirty days. The more you get in the Word, the more the Word will get into you.

Episode 98: 30 Sayings of the Wise: Faith from mitchkrusetv on Vimeo.