And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
“You are what you eat.” This is something our parents would have told us and it has a kernel of truth to it. What we eat does affect our bodies but it is not who we are. Jesus said what appears to be the opposite to you are what you eat. He says that food goes in and out but it is what is in the heart and is acted out that shows who we really are. The list Jesus gave to his disciples must have been disconcerting and discouraging, resulting in the question also asked of him, “Who then can be saved?”
The answer to that question is those he chose and believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior. But we can extend this analogy to God. what goes into the body is not who we are but what comes out, Jesus said. What comes out of God shows who he really is. Love comes out of God and is showered on the world. Mercy comes out of God and is shown to the world. Sacrifice comes out of God in the form of his Son Jesus Christ. Now we can truly say…
You are what you believe.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church