How do you squeeze toothpaste on your toothbrush? Do you squeeze from the middle thus creating a bow effect with the tube? Or do you push the toothpaste to the end of the tube and then squirt, leaving part of the tube flattened with the other end bulging? These are important things to know. People have had knockdown drag-out fights over less than this.
We can learn a lot from a tube of toothpaste and what happens to it when it’s squeezed. For example, when you squeeze the tube of toothpaste, however you squeeze, what comes out of it? Toothpaste, right? You don’t squeeze the toothpaste tube and get ketchup out of it. Although that would be a hilarious trick to play on someone, it just doesn’t happen. Whatever’s inside of the tube is what comes out of it when you put pressure on it and the same is true for us.
Whatever we’ve put inside of us is what comes out when we’re squeezed. Now I’m not talking about the food we put inside of us, although the same concept applies, I’m referring to the things we pour into our mind, heart and spirit.
What are you exposing yourself to daily? What are you reading, listening to, looking at? It matters. It will impact what comes out of you as you go through life. Philippians 4:8 says,
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable– if anything is excellent or praiseworthy– think about such things.”
The stuff we feed our minds affects our hearts and in turn, what comes out of us, what we say and do. Sometimes we don’t even have to be under pressure for these things to come seeping out of us.
Job 15:5 says,
Your sin prompts your mouth; you adopt the tongue of the crafty.”
Have you ever tried squeezing all of the toothpaste out of a tube and then tried to put it back inside? It’s impossible. There’s no way to collect all of it and fit it all back inside of the tube. There’s bound to be residue, something left, not to mention the impossibility of trying to cram it all back into the tube. It would be interesting to send the problem to Myth Busters and see if the average person could do it. I bet not.
The same is true with our words. Once they’re out there, we can’t take them back, no matter how hard we try with phrases like I was just teasing. They’ve hit their mark and done their damage.
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.”
Things planted in the heart don’t only escape through the mouth. They are also manifested in our actions and deeds. Jesus pointed this out to the Pharisees numerous times in scripture [Matthew 3:7]. The Pharisees would say they believed in a loving God then they would badger people with their rules and regulations, always looking for someone to slip up so they could kick them when they were down, even Jesus [Matthew 12:1-8].
Are there things you’ve been feasting on that are not healthy for your heart and soul? Do you need to change your feeding habits? Are their books you need to avoid reading? Are their movies you need to refrain from viewing? Do you need to change the type of music your listening to or the type of jokes you participate in?
We can all learn from the wisdom of Solomon found in Proverbs 4:23,
Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”
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