Your Mouth Is Telling on Your Heart

Tayler Meade
1 hour ago
3 min read

Before I gave my life to Christ, two things constantly came out of my mouth: cursing and gossip.

I cursed because everyone else did. It made me feel cool or like I fit in. Ironically, that habit became one of the hardest things to break after I gave my life to Jesus.

I gossiped because it made me feel bigger. If someone else looked bad, I felt better. If someone agreed with me, I felt like I had someone on my side. I didn’t think I was hurting anyone… I thought I was helping myself.

But eventually I realized:

My mouth wasn’t the problem. My heart was.

Jesus said:

“For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”

— Matthew 12:34

Our mouths don’t create the problem.

They reveal it.

What we say exposes what lives inside us—our pride, insecurity, anger, love, or faith.

A story the Lord brought to mind while writing this is a chapter in Isaiah.

In the Book of Isaiah, chapter 6, Isaiah has a vision of God sitting on His throne, surrounded by angels declaring His holiness.

The moment Isaiah encounters God’s holiness, his response isn’t out of confidence, but out of conviction.

He says:

“Woe is me! For I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips.”

— Isaiah 6:5

Notice what Isaiah confesses.

His lips.

Standing before a holy God, Isaiah realized his words revealed his heart.

But God didn’t leave him there. One of the angels touched Isaiah’s lips with a burning coal from the altar, symbolizing purification.

His lips were cleansed because God had transformed the heart behind them.

Let’s be honest, it’s hard to break our flesh. But I can genuinely say that gossiping and cursing, especially, do not show your intelligence. There are so many other nouns, modified adjectives, and verbs you can use to say what you’re trying to say without cursing.

If you struggle with your mouth, the answer isn’t just trying harder to say the right things.

Proverbs 4:23 says:

“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”

Your words are simply the overflow. Your cursing, gossiping, shaming, etc., is what your heart is full of.

The answer is to fix your heart on Jesus. Stop allowing the world to take precedence over the One who created it.

Practical Lessons

1. Pay attention to your words.

They reveal what your heart is already saying.

2. Don’t just watch your mouth in front of people you deem “Godly”, invite God to transform your heart.

3. Fill your heart with truth.

The more Scripture fills your heart and mind, the more it shapes your speech.

4. Ask God to purify your words.

Just as Isaiah did, we need God’s cleansing.

5. Use your mouth for what it was designed for. Bringing life, encouragement, and truth.

Following Jesus isn’t about becoming someone who never slips up.

It’s about becoming someone whose heart is being transformed by Christ.

Because when the heart changes, the mouth eventually follows.

And when Christ fills your heart, grace starts flowing out of your words.

One thing I’ve learned through my own story is that words leave marks.

Some of the hardest wounds I’ve had to overcome came from things people said, such as gossip, slander, exclusion, and conversations I wasn’t invited into but somehow still heard about later. Words can isolate people faster than almost anything else.

But the opposite is also true.

Words can heal.

Words can include.

Words can remind someone that they matter.

That realization is actually part of what inspired me to write A Note to the One Left Walking in the Grass. I know what it feels like to be on the outside of conversations, friendships, and circles you thought you belonged in. And I know how powerful it is when someone finally speaks life instead of judgment.

So today, maybe the question isn’t just “What am I saying?”

Maybe it’s:

“What kind of heart is shaping my words?”

Because the more we let Christ transform our hearts, the more our words begin to look like His, which are full of grace, truth, compassion, and life.

And that’s the kind of voice this world desperately needs more of.

Friend, Your mouth doesn’t accidentally reveal your heart—it brings it to the light.