100th Post Jesus Said Concerning the Importance of Guarding One's Speech - Matthew 15: 11

Matthew 15: 11; Mark 7: 15 Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.
This passage was aimed at a Jewish audience, in the Old Testament Books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy the Jews were told what they could and could not eat because they were unclean. The Scriptures taught that if you ate something unclean it would defile you. Jesus corrected the Scriptures of the Old Testament to include Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews). This is part of the reason Jesus came into the world, to save all men from their sins. The Jewish diet was to separate the Jews from their neighbors. Jesus came into the world to draw all men to Him. Jesus came to the world to include all men. Jesus taught that it is not what you eat that makes you unclean, but what you say defiles a man because what comes out comes from the man's heart. If your heart is unclean, you will say things that hurt other people. Jesus taught us to build up each other, not tear them down. Sometimes we think that we can say bad things about another group or person; feeling they are justified because they don't like them. This also deals with what we say in anger. All of these examples, show how we can defile ourselves. When we are running our mouths, we don't think that what we say will come back to haunt us. Jesus said this to remind us. When we do what Jesus says, we are turning our world into a small Kingdom of Heaven. The world can change, but it takes the work of His people putting into practice what He taught.