Words That Carry God’s Heart

One of the greatest dangers in the Christian life is confusing biblical knowledge with intimacy with God.

A person can know Scripture.

Memorize chapters.

Explain doctrine.

Teach Bible studies.

And yet still speak in a way that does not reflect the heart of God.

The Pharisees knew the Scriptures better than almost anyone. They could quote the Law, debate theology, and identify error. Yet when the Word became flesh and stood before them, they failed to recognize Him.

Why?

Because they knew God’s words, but they did not know God’s heart.

There is a difference.

As I have been studying Ezekiel, one truth continues to surface.

Before God ever sent Ezekiel to speak, He fed him.

He gave him the scroll.

Then He told him to sit.

Then He instructed him to remain silent until the time appointed.

Only after God had fed him, formed him, and prepared him did He send him to speak.

That pattern is not unique to Ezekiel.

It is the pattern of God’s Kingdom.

God feeds us.

God forms us.

Then God sends us.

Too often, we reverse the order.

We learn something new and immediately feel compelled to share it.

We hear a sermon and rush to teach it.

We read a verse and quickly post it online.

But God’s desire has never been that His people merely repeat His words.

He desires that we first be transformed by them.

Truth that has only reached the mind often sounds harsh.

Truth that has traveled through a surrendered heart carries both conviction and compassion.

Think about Jesus.

No one ever spoke truth more boldly than He did.

Yet people who were broken, rejected, and burdened were drawn to Him.

Sinners wanted to be near Him.

Children ran toward Him.

The weary found rest in Him.

Even when Jesus corrected people, His words were never driven by pride or the need to prove Himself right. They flowed from perfect love and complete obedience to His Father.

His words carried God’s heart because He continually lived in His Father’s presence.

That is our invitation as well.

The authority of our words is not measured by how much Scripture we can quote.

It is strengthened by the time we have spent with the One who gave us those Scriptures.

People may forget the exact verses we shared.

They may not remember every point we made.

But they will often remember whether our words reflected the heart of Christ.

The world does not simply need more voices quoting the Bible.

It needs believers whose lives reveal they have walked with the Author.

Before we ask God to give us something to say, perhaps we should ask Him to shape the kind of heart from which our words will flow.

When that happens, our words become more than information.

They become an invitation for others to know the God we have come to know ourselves.

Reflection

Do my words reveal that I’ve spent time with God, or merely that I’ve spent time studying about Him?

Much Love

~Gayla~