The Voice of the Heart
“But Joseph said to them…”
There have been times in my life when revenge has taken roots in my heart. As a teacher, I have desired to pour out my entire wrath upon my offending pupils. I despise being disrespected in any way and revenge seems like the only way out of this situation.
Jacob, the father of Joseph died. This was Joseph’s opportunity to get rid once and for all, of his evil brothers. The brothers, saddened by their father’s death and afraid of Joseph’s “revenge,” came asking for forgiveness.
And what did Joseph do? He didn’t avenge all the “lost years” of his youth. He didn’t make them pay for all the time he had been away from his beloved father, or for all the years he had to spend in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. He spoke to their hearts; he wept with them; and he renewed his pledge to preserve their lives.
The only way our words will reach someone else’s heart, is if we speak from our hearts. This is the kind of communication that God practices. In fact, we could say that the Bible, the Word of God, is a revelation of God’s heart.
Heart to heart communication is what God expects from his children. How is your heart today? Is it pure, holy, and sensitive to God’s voice? It is important that we communicate from our hearts, but it is also extremely vital to guard our hearts “for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” (Matthew 12:34).
Let us begin to practice the art of transparent and sincere conversation. We must speak from the heart to each other and in our daily prayers to God. To speak in any other way is hypocrisy and we are not hypocrites. Are we?
