Day 36~ The Things that Make us Unclean

Today we'll be reflecting on the book of Matthew, chapter 7 verse 14-23; it is entitled, 'The Things that Make a Person Unclean.'

In this scripture Jesus says,

"There is nothing that goes into you from the outside which can make you ritually unclean. Rather, it is what comes out of you that makes you unclean. "

Now the diciples didn't understand this so they asked Jesus to explain what he had said. jesus replied; 

"Dont you understand? Nothing that goes into you from outside can really make you unclean, because it does not go into your heart but into your stomach and then goes on out of the body. It is what comes out of you that makes you unclean. For from the inside, from your heart, comes evil ideas which lead you to do immoral things, to rob, kill,  commit adultry,  be greedy,  and do all sorts of evil things; deceit, indecency, jealousy,  slander, pride, and folly- all these evil things come from inside you and make you unclean."

Now what this scripture is talking about are those things that make us impure. What Jesus was saying is that the things in our heart are the things that make us unclean not the things we consume; as was the popular belief in those days.

The things that make us unclean are those that reside in our heart; those are the things that lead us to do evil. 

What did he mean?
He meant that the things that aren't a part of us can't make us unclean because they pass through us and leave our bodies, however, the things that are a part of us; the ones we hold in our hearts', they have the power to cause us to do evil and anything that has that kind of power is unclean.

What does that mean for us?
Well, it means that if we're holding on to something in our heart that causes us to do wrong we need to get rid of it. It may not be as easy as saying that you no longer want to have pride or hate and suddenly they disappear, we're going to have to work harder than that most likely, but it would be worth it in the long run if we can detatch ourselves from those feelings and become better people in the process.