Smell the roses

We are teaching our kids better terms with washing their hands.

Once every while our kids will forget to wash their hands and we have a simple way to check if they washed their hands, smell.

We say, "Let me smell your hands."

Usually if the kids haven't, they will go back into the bathroom and wash their hands afterwards.

It's a simple test but it works.

Why because we have soap that smells.

There are reasons for doing this when it deals with germs and such that the kids have.

Jesus gets confronted about washing of hands but it's in a different way.

Jesus and the disciples were not ceremonially cleaning their hands before they ate.

As a result the religious leaders were ticked at Jesus.

They called Jesus out and he fired right back at them.

Mark 7:14-15…

"…Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him unclean."

In verse 20-23 he explains what makes a man unclean…

"What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' ²¹ For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, ²² greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. ²³ All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.' "

When we have heart issues, it takes actions that make them wrong.

Just because you play a violent video game does not make you a killer.

It's the act itself that is wrong.

We all struggle with what comes out of our heads sometimes.

Nobody is perfect and we all make mistakes.

This just shows that we all have things we need to work on and improve to be better people.

I know I still have a long way to go, but am trying to improve.

Nothing good happens from the list Jesus mentions above.

Just like our kids continue to improve on washing their hands, we have things we need to improve.

What are you trying to improve on today to make yourself a better person?

Have a great day.