The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Luke 6:45

I've been told over and over again by many pastors that ministry is an outflow profession. To be honest, that had no meaning to me the first year I served in our church staff as a full-time church adminsitrator.

"Outflow? What the heck does that even mean?"

It was all latin to me, up until my second year of serving. That was then that I realized that I wasn't just doing ministry wrong. I was doing life wrong. Because it isn't just ministry that's an outflow profession. Our whole life is an outflow profession.

To live in the outflow of God's goodness is, at its very core, the most "Christian" thing that can be done. When we live life according to our own strength, our own passions and our own abilities, it won't be long until everything konks out on us.

We live life out of the overflow of our hearts whether we know it or not, and the content of our heart becomes the biggest determinant of what people around us get from us. When we fill our hearts with dirty and gruesome muck like hate, worry, doubt, bitterness, selfishness and pride, that's what comes out of us no matter how hard we try to filter it.

But when our hearts are filled with God's Spirit, that's where we start bearing fruit that brings forth love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Out of the abundance of our hearts do we do life. Our families, our co-workers, our church communities all receive whatever fills your heart. Question is what do you fill your heart with? Do you fill it with the unending love of God as you continue to read His word, pray to Him and spend time with Him? Or do we fill it with strife and stress as we miss out on sitting at Jesus's feet to receive His teachings?

Our lives reflect the outflow of the abundance that fills our hearts, and people will see what you fill your hearts with. When we ask God to fill our hearts with His presence and enjoy our relationship with Him, we honor Him best. When something else comes out aside from God-honoring produce, then you can be sure that you're filling your heart with the wrong things.

What are you filling your heart with today? Have you relied on God to graciously keep your heart content and overflowing with His goodness and mercy?