“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘When any man has a discharge from his body, his discharge is unclean.’”

Leviticus 15:2 (ESV)

The LORD has no problem addressing the nitty gritty issues of life. There are things we don’t normally talk about, but God considers them important because He addressed them in His Word. Leviticus 15 deals with various kinds of bodily discharges from running sores, to semen, to menstrual bleeding. These discharges or “issues” would make a person ceremonially unclean, and anyone who touched an unclean person would himself become unclean. The separation God commanded and the washings involved were good health practices.

There are other kinds of issues. We see them in the culture; we see them in the church. Often they separate people. Our participation in them can defile us. Where do these issues come from? They come from the world; we see them in the news and social media. But they also arise from the heart.

Jesus said:

“For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”

Mark 7:21–23 (NLT)

We have a traitor within in the form of our own deceitful and evil heart (Jeremiah 17:9). It is all too easy for us to “discharge” something unclean through the words we speak. Let us be mindful of our tendency to do this and bring our thoughts to Jesus for review and editing before we contaminate others with them. Our words can bless and heal as surely as they can curse and harm.

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