Knowing Yourself

Jesus said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

-Mark 7:18-23

Jesus told us that what we say and do depends on and reveals who we are. We are to be his sheep who know his voice and imitate it. What Jesus’ detractors, the Pharisees and scribes, said and did revealed their true nature. At the day of judgment, our spoken words will be the basis for judgment because they reveal who we are. Of course, we can all be careless in our words, but when our words are consistently unfruitful for others, it demonstrates our inability to love our neighbors as ourselves.

What do your words and actions communicate about you? Write a list of positive things you want to build on and a list of negative things about yourself you want to change:

Prayer

Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.