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Did you know that God commands everyone to speak what’s in their heart? Psalms 15 is something of a self-test chapter; it tells us just what qualifications a person whom God saves will have to have, in order to be a part of His Kingdom. And look at the very first qualifications:

Psalms 15:1-2 LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and SPEAKETH THE TRUTH IN HIS HEART

But just what is speaking the truth IN YOUR HEART? What does it REALLY MEAN? And DO YOU DO IT??

John 1:45-46 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? ..

How BLUNT – how RUDE! In the time of Christ, Gallileans were viewed rather like Americans view people from the hills of West Virginia or Arkansas; in a nutshell, when Philip said they’d found Christ, Nathanael responded “Is the Christ going to be a redneck – a hillbilly?”.

Nathanael said this because it was HOW HE FELT. It was the TRUTH that came from his heart.

John 1:46-47 …Philip saith unto him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!

Did Christ condemn this un-tactful, blunt person? No, in fact he was IMPRESSED by it! He was impressed because Nathanael spoke the truth that he felt – no matter what. Because he did this, because he spoke the truth in his heart, he HAD NO GUILE – or DECEPTION – in him!

Christ Himself did similar things, that we would call “Cold”, and “Blunt”.

Mark 8:33 But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.

What a terrible insult to Peter – and after all, Peter didn’t mean any harm. All he’d said was that he didn’t want Christ to die! And yet Christ really blasted him. This wasn’t tactful at all. Christ could have at least put it nicely – for example “Hey Peter, I know you meant well, but it has to be this way – trust me”. That would have said all that needed said – but Christ couldn’t do that!

He couldn’t do that because that wasn’t the TRUTH IN HIS HEART! That would have been GUILE!

1 Peter 2:22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:

And you must follow in His footsteps, if you’re to be His disciple, and be in the Kingdom.

1 Peter 3:10 For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:

Let us summarize what we have so far; If you think a thought, and then say something else – that was guile. That was SQUELCHING the truth that was in your heart, and speaking something else.

If someone gives a sermon that was boring, slow, and you almost fell asleep during it – NO MATTER WHAT AWKWARD SITUATION HAPPENS, you CAN’T tell him it was a great sermon, that you enjoyed it, or any of the other typical things people say. Because that’s a lie!

Oh, sure… you can tell yourself, while you’re saying it… “Well, there was that one point that wasn’t too bad, so it’s not a lie”… Or… “I’ve heard worse, so it was true from a certain point of view”… guess what? That’s GUILE, and SIN!

Or if you go to a restaurant, have a terrible meal, and the waiter asks you if everything was alright… and you say “Oh yes, thanks!” – of course, as always, justifying it by finding some tiny portion of the meal that was alright, and telling yourself it wasn’t a lie… And then you tell your family as you’re leaving “We just won’t eat here any more”…

That’s right… You didn’t speak the truth in your heart, and unless and until you repent of this you won’t be in God’s kingdom!

Now these are only a few examples, to show you what to look for in your own life. See if you can’t find a place where you do it – where you soften the truth that you know needs to be said, for fear of offending someone.

So be blunt – be “a man indeed, in whom is found no guile” – THIS is how you speak the truth in your heart. It’s really not that complicated, it’s just a matter of having the COURAGE to do it.

Then you can start working on the REST of the qualifications in Psalms 15.