Kids love having a piñata at a party.  Blindfolded, they are given a baseball bat or a heavy stick and have to try to hit the piñata so the candy inside spills out.

As kids, we loved parties with a piñata… the lucky ones were the closest and could grab most of the candy!  

I’ve often thought of this in relation to my heart.  When my heart takes a hit or gets bombarded with hurts, what spills out?  Retaliation? Hurtful words? Silence?  Anger?  Stuff it?

“Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45)

What’s in your heart?

I’ll be honest here … I wish I could say that whenever I’ve been wounded, only good and forgiving words flowed out of me!  I guess I’m not that sanctified!  I’ve had to apologize for my wrong emotions and words many times.

So, what is in your heart that comes out of your mouth?  Psalm 119:11, “Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee.”  If we study and hide God’s word in our heart then there is more opportunity for His Word to come out.  But if we don’t read or study His Word, what are we putting in our heart?  Oh, I’m not saying that the Bible is the only thing we can read or only watch Christian programs on television, but what is feeding our heart?

We’ve all heard the saying … garbage in — garbage out.

I dare say we have all had wounded and battered hearts … spouses, children, employees, and employers … what is your response?

It depends on where you are living!  Where is your dwelling?   “He that dwells in the secret place …” (Psalm 91:1).  God inhabits (lives in) the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3).

In hard times when you get hit, knocked around, slammed … when your guts spill out — is it curses or blessings that bleed out? Kids love the candy that gets knocked out of a piñata… do people love what comes out of you? Curses and blessings cannot come out of the same fountain. What you’ve locked in will be knocked out.

Please understand I am NOT talking about physical or verbal abuse here … I’m talking about wounded hearts.  We are not to be doormats, but when our hearts feel like we’ve taken a piñata beating … it is important how we respond!  How do we answer back?

“God has two dwellings:  one in heaven, and the other in a meek and thankful heart.”  Izaak Walton (1593-1683)