Overflow

"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

Common to humanity is the truth that we speak what is in our hearts. Although many people will refuse to acknowledge that their soul dictates what they say, the truth remains. Those without a relationship with God, have dead spirits. Those with a relationship have a live and growing spirit within. It is from this place that the soul which consists of our minds, our wills, and our emotions, receives life or death. This then is transferred to our mouths and we speak what is within our souls (hearts). Clearly, Christians should have good things coming out of our mouths because our living spirit, infilled by the Holy Spirit is speaking to our souls all the time. So the things inside us are good.
    We know that people who do not know God will speak vile things. This is nothing new. But what about Christians? I'm not here to say that all Christians speak evil. Sometimes we do, because the sin nature is still working within us. But there are many good things that come out of our mouths because of the work of God in us and the Holy Spirit within. When our lives are changed, our mouths change, too. The thing that bothers me has more to do with the way we feed ourselves spiritually. You see, it takes spiritual food to feed our spirits. This food fills us and overflows to our souls. Then what we talk about reflects the fact that we are full of God and his Spirit. But what happens we are not feeding our spirits? What happens when we give out more than we are taking in?
    I have been in a struggle to control my weight for my entire life. In the course of this, I have learned that if I consume more calories than I burn via exercise, I gain weight. When I expend more calories by exercise and eat fewer calories, I lose weight. In the flesh, it is generally a good thing to lose excess weight. But in our spiritual lives, the opposite is true. We are to delight ourselves in the richest of fare. God gives us the finest and richest spiritual food. This is intended to fill us up and be stored in us. In this way, when it comes time to speak to others, our mouths speaks out of what we have stored up inside. What God has done, said, and shown us spills out to others. If we don't feed our spirits on the Word of God and the words of his Spirit, we often will expend more 'spiritual words' than we have to give. Soon, we find ourselves without any stored up spiritual fat. The things we say become empty because there is no life behind the words.
    Trust me, I have been there. As a pastor required to preach and teach on a weekly basis, I have faced the grim task of sharing from a heart that is not full. In the end, these words have little value because there is little life. So I have learned that anything I teach, preach, or share with others must come out of my full heart. So I feed myself. I have learned to recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit, I have learned that I must take in God's Word and allow the Holy Spirit to quicken it to my life. In this process, everything that comes out my mouth is seasoned with the salt of the presence of God. The things shared are valuable because they have already worked in me. They have already changed my life. The words have God's power because they are alive in me.
   I encourage you to feed your spirit. Let the things of God overflow into your soul and then out of your mouth as you share the gospel of the kingdom. There are no spiritual diets. We are never to limit our intake of spiritual food. Enjoy the spiritual feast that God sets before you. Eat it until you are stuffed. Then get some spiritual exercise by speaking out what has filled you up. This is healthy overflow.