“18 And He said to them, ‘Are you also as lacking in understanding? Don’t you realize that nothing going into a man from the outside can defile him? 19 For it doesn’t go into his heart but into the stomach and is eliminated.’ (As a result, He made all foods clean.) 20 Then He said, ‘What comes out of a person — that defiles him. 21 For from within, out of peoples hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, 22 adulteries, greed, evil actions, deceit, promiscuity, stinginess, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a person.'”
Mark 7:18-23
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‘Unclean’ isn’t just an adjective for a thing or activity. It is an attitude of the heart and mind, a state of being for the soul. Thinking isn’t unclean, it is a gift from God, but it can become so when it is misdirected by sinful attitudes. Sex isn’t unclean, it is also a beautiful gift from God, but it can become unclean if we introduce it into a relationship that isn’t clean, or if we use it for self-gratification in an unclean, extra-marital way.

Anything God has given us is clean, but it is our own attitudes and motives that make it unclean. When selfishness, pride or any other sinful attitude gets a hold of our heart, we are fully capable of turning a beautiful blessing into a dangerous distraction.

It is the sinful attitudes of the heart that corrupt. We grow accustomed to them and they slowly wash over us. An attitude that seems close to ‘okay’ makes its way in through compromise and over time we find ourselves inching further and further away from the will of God and what honors Him toward sin, pride and self-worship.

As we seek to GoLove others in the Name of Christ, we must be aware of our own attitudes and hearts not just theirs. We are called to help guide and instruct, even to judge the fruit of their lives, but we do not do so without examining our own as well. We must seek out the planks in our own eyes as we are helping with the speck in theirs. Receiving Christ doesn’t mean we’re already perfect, but we are daily working out that salvation life with His help.