Out of the Mouth - Out of the Heart?

We have all done it - lost our tempers or had a "slip of the toungue" but did we really? Is it just once in awhile or is it constant? It is one thing to just joke around with your close friends/family but I'm talking about the act of .... rudeness (for lack of better words). Constant malicious & selfish behavior. I work as a front desk person so I tend to people on  a person/person basis and I have heard it from both sides of the desk. It is easy for me to respond kindly to a person that is having an off day when I spend a total of 10 mins with them but it is the ones that I see on a regular basis - those are the ones that I can see their true colors and have a harder time being ...polite. But with these (and actually every person) I try to pass through what they said to why they said it. Not to what happened that moment but what is it in their life that made them respond to this particular situation like that. Illness, marriage, kids or are they really just... mean- it helps me to navigate people better. But what do they see when they speak with me? Now, I am by design a bit  *wink*  sassy but I am not intentially evil. So I do have to be carefull about what I am saying and how that is being perceived. "Well if people don't like me that's their problem!", is usually the comments that I hear, and not from the younger generation either. Which is heartbreaking. But is it really? Or is it really your problem? It is true that you can not change or govern someone else but you can change and govern yourself. You can choose what kind of reaction you have to a given situation. Why would you let someone else take away your God given grace. Changing your response might not change that person but it keeps you from falling out of God's loving arms. Jesus said "not what enters into [his] mouth that defiles a man; but what proceeds out of [his] mouth that defiles a man." {Mat 15:11} What goes into your mouth passes through the system and comes out but what comes out of your mouth comes from your heart. WOW! Now that gives you a bit of something to think about. You might say, "But that person made me angry and that is why I..." and fill the blanks. If that is the case then shame on you! Shame on you for allowing someone else to influence you that way. Can you imagine how bleek our world would be if Jesus said, "Well of course I bowed down to Satan - he had a convincing arguement." Allowing someone to sway you is not all bad but is it in the direction that you wish to go? If the answer is no - then figure out another path to take!       Shabbat Shalom! {Sabbath Peace}