The Good Heart

A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

Luke 6:45

Have you been through Session One of our guide Building Family Relationships? What did you think? How does viewing family through the lens of relationships and culture change the way you think about your family priorities?

Today, we’d like to spend a little time focusing on the first pillar of the house: Pursue God. 

Look again at the verse above. It’s incredibly relevant to parenting.

Why? Because so often in parenting, we try to be something we’re not—and that makes the whole process much harder.

For example, we may try very hard not to get angry, but our willpower fails us again and again. Then guilt follows anger, sending us into a tailspin which—ironically—leads to even more anger.

The problem is that we’re focused on controlling the outside when the real issue is on the inside. We’re trying to manage outward behavior when the root problem lies in our core beliefs.

Anger is a trigger. It should prompt us to ask, “Why am I angry? As I look at God’s Word, would Jesus be angry about this?”

Here’s the key takeaway: every action we take stems from what we believe deep inside. The better we become at identifying those beliefs and aligning them with God’s truth, the more peace and clarity we’ll find in our family life.

As Jesus said, what comes out of our mouths reflects what’s stored in our hearts.