Heart check

I read this verse yesterday while I was up at Starting Grounds, and while I had read it before I had always kind of passed over it without a second though. Well, I guess Jesus thought it was time for me to pay attention to it. :P

"The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks." ~Luke 6:45

I know that from time to time I can feel like I've 'arrived' in certain areas of my walk, or at the very least, feel like I've grown enough to get by. Reading this verse yesterday pretty much brought me back to my senses. For one thing, the Bible says:

"being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." ~Philippians 1:6

That tells me that I still need the Spirit to work in my life daily, shaping and transforming, and He will continue to do so until Christ returns.

Second, Scripture also says:

"there is no one who does good, no not one." ~Psalm 14:3

So it is by Christ alone in me that anything good comes from my life. And so now I come back to this passage in Luke. I'm a pretty positive person, but it's still my default to resort to sarcasm and biting remarks when I'm talking to people. I know that I can lean towards a more cynical view point and that fuels the kinds of things I say.

I want to see the world the way Jesus sees it. If my heart is in tune with His, wouldn't I be much more likely to respond out of compassion instead of cynicism? That is my prayer for today.

Father, as I seek to understand and know You more, show me the world through Your loving eyes instead of the blinded perspective I tend to take. Open my heart to extend grace and compassion to those around me.