Mark 7:18-19
“And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?”
The Pharisees made the same mistake that we often make in that we become more concerned with the physical than we do the spiritual. Certainly, the outside is important, but what happens on the inside is more important. Jesus says that the heart is where everything enters. Notice that He says in the verse above that those things from without cannot defile a man “Because it entereth not into his heart.” Jesus is teaching that the most important thing you should protect is your heart.
The word “defile” means, “to make unclean, to soil, to tarnish, to make impure or to pollute.” In other words, before a man soils his life, he opens the door of defilement to his heart. Before a man ever lives an impure life, he opens his heart to an impure life. Before the destruction has taken place, a person opens their heart to whatever destroys them. That means if you want to protect your life from defilement, then you need to protect the door that opens up your life to defilement, and that door is your heart. There are several things that will defile your heart.
First, what you see will defile your heart. We often hear that the eyes are the gateway to the soul, and that is true. Whatever you allow yourself to see will go straight to your heart. If you don’t want your heart defiled, then don’t allow your eyes to see that which would defile it. Be careful about the pictures you see, the movies you watch and the books you read. Each of these areas can open the door of your heart to defilement.
Second, what you hear will defile your heart. Many people have defiled their spirit by listening to that which will taint it. If you don’t listen to vulgar language, then you won’t act in a vulgar manner. If you don’t listen to negative words, then your heart will never be defiled towards an authority. If you don’t listen to conversations that would not be becoming to our LORD, then you will never have an opportunity to live that which would mar your testimony. If you never listen to teaching or preaching that will defile your faith, then you will never open the door to compromise. If you protect what you hear, then you will protect your heart from opening the door to defilement.
Third, whom you choose to associate with can defile your heart. I have left this part for last because it almost always starts with an association. If you don’t spend time with people who are questionable, then you will never hear or see questionable things. Many people destroy their lives simply by having wrong associations.
Let me ask you, have you opened the door to defilement? You need to regularly take inventory of those things that can defile your heart. If you don’t want your heart destroyed, then you need to keep yourself from those things that will open the door to defilement. If you keep your heart pure, then you will never crack the door that will defile your life.