I Talk Too Much

10When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear and understand: 11“Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”
Matthew 15: 10 - 11 NKJV

Anyone who knows me knows all too well my characteristics.  One of these characteristics is my ability to piss people off with sarcastic answers to dumb questions.  Now, while I myself may justify this at times, there are others who would tell me that I'm a...jerk.  The simple fact is, I talk too much.  Be it a blessing or a curse, that is who I am.  There you have it, Christ Jesus layed out in His reality.  Christ Jesus?  Yes, for despite my obvious shortcomings, in my heart I know that it is Jesus who lives through me {Galations 2:20}.  How could a Jesus lover be so crass?  Well, does anyone remember the answers that Jesus gave to the questions of the Jewish authorities?  Yeah, He definately didn't make any friends among the Pharisees.  However, He wasn't lying at all.  God cannot lie.  Ok, I digress.  There has definately been more than a few times where my well thought of answers have produced many a angry reaction.  I get it.  If someone, on a rainy day, asks me if it's raining what do you think my answer will be?  No, the sun is hiding behind those rain drops.  See, I wasn't lying was I?  Well, part of the reason for this post was too bring this part of me to my own attention.  Yes, I knew that it was there all along, but I dealt with it.  I'm not going to make some pie in the sky promise that I'm going to change.  After all, I'm Jesus, why would I need to change?  I know in my heart that Jesus Himself was not loved and adored by all that He came across, and neither will I be. 

20If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, dhow can he love God whom he has not seen?
1 John 4:20 NKJV

It would be easy for me to tell someone that if they didn't want a sarcastic answer then they shouldn't ask a stupid question.  Yes, I've done that too.  However, the higher road would be to speak not through my flesh but through Christ Jesus who is in me.  The trouble is, even speaking as Jesus would find more than a few people to offend.  It seems that I can't win this one.  Seriously, a well placed answer WILL avoid the wrath of others.  It may not be easy for those around me to see Jesus in me especially from the way I act at times, but trust me He's there reigning me in.  The way that He does that is by speaking to my heart about what it is that I'm doing.  More than once I've felt His gentle voice within me whispering "Scott, is this really who you are?"  It is in these moments where I need to take a step back and think of what He's trying to tell me.  No, that isn't the man who I really am.  For all that Christ Jesus is, I am.  I carry His traits, His dna, His heredity.  I am simply not His child...I am Him.  For all of my faults, and there are many, it is Jesus who assures me of the man that I am.  Someone else could ask me that very same question, but they might not like my answer.  Yeah, I talk too much. 

~Scott~