GREEK
WORD WITH ENGLISH TRANSLITERATION: μιαίνω (miaino)
PRONUNCIATION:
me-AH-ee-no
STRONG’S
CONCORDANCE #: 3392
MEANING:
defile; contaminate; taint
BACKGROUND
OF WORD (ETYMOLOGY): this Greek word is always used to
describe defilement in a figurative sense in all five uses in the New
Testament; the root word means "to be stained"
HOW
TRANSLATED IN KJV, NASB AND/OR ESV: defiled
#
OF TIMES USED IN THE GREEK NEW TESTAMENT: 5
KEY
VERSE IN THE BIBLE WHERE GREEK WORD USED:
Hebrews
12:15
- "See to it that no one fails to
obtain the grace of God; that no "root of bitterness" springs up and
causes trouble, and by it many become defiled (mμιαίνω)."
THOUGHT
FOR THE DAY:
The Greek word translated “defiled” in
Hebrews 12:15 is the Greek word miainœ.
It means to spill, to spot, or to stain. Here is what Hebrews 12:15 is
telling us: If you are inwardly upset with someone and don't get rid of those
raw emotions, it won't be too long until you open your mouth and begin to
verbalize those ugly inward emotions. As Jesus said, “...Out of the abundance
of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matthew 12:34).
According to Jesus, what you are full of
is exactly what you will talk about! If you're filled with joy, then joy will
come out of your mouth. But if you're filled with bitterness, anger,
disappointment, frustration, or rage, then eventually those attitudes are going
to show up in the words you speak! Like a rising river, what is inside you — if
not corrected by the Spirit of God — will eventually flood out of the banks of
your soul and spill out of your mouth, adversely affecting everyone around you.
This is what happens when we fail to
deal with our hearts and instead allow wrong attitudes to fester inside us.
Eventually we will begin to “run at the mouth” and say bad things about someone
else, which has a devastating effect on those who hear us. As our negative
attitudes rage out of control, our words taint,
spot, soil, and ruin the way our
listeners perceive the person we are speaking of. Thus, by permitting our
mouths to be the spout for the mess that festers inside us, we end up sliming
other people with our own stinking attitudes and destructive words.
Let me give you an example of how one
person's root of bitterness can result in many being defiled. Suppose a father
who has always loved his church becomes offended by something that happened in
the church. Rather than go to the Lord, release the offense, and forgive, this
father goes home and fumes about what
happened. The longer he fumes about it, the more angry he becomes. As his anger
grows, he starts venting and talking about how upset he is with that church!
Prior to this, this father's children
loved their church. But day after day, they listen to their father rage about
how bad the pastor is, how badly their father has been treated, and so on. The
father doesn't realize it, but his words are having a profoundly negative
effect on his children. Soon the children
begin to feel what their father feels.
They see what he sees and believe
what he believes. Although no one in
the church has ever wronged any of these children, it isn't long before they
are carrying the same bitter feelings toward the church that their father
carries.
In this case, the children have been tainted, stained, and spotted by a father who should have gone
to the Cross and allowed the Spirit of God to liberate him from those bitter
emotions. Instead, he opened his mouth and dumped his bitterness on his family.
Now he's not the only one who has an attitude problem; he has imparted his bad
attitude to his children as well. And the truth is, if his children have a
negative attitude toward the church when they grow up, much of the blame will
be laid at that father's feet because he didn't keep his mouth shut and act
more mature.
CHALLENGE
FOR THE DAY:
What a pity to dump all your negative garbage on your friends and loved ones,
defiling them with a spiritual problem that may hound them for years. How much
better it would be for you to go to the Cross and deal with it rather than open
the spout and let a flood of filth and slime defile those around you!
It may seem hard to keep your mouth shut
and to go to the Lord when you're dealing with a difficult attitude challenge.
But it is much easier to take this route than to spew a lot of garbage that
you'll later have to clean up! So I urge
you today to let the Holy Spirit help you overcome your inward struggles. As
you do, you will keep yourself free of bitterness and make sure others around
you are not defiled by ugly words that you are tempted to speak!
PRAYER
FOR THE DAY:
Lord, please help me
refrain from speaking words today that will negatively affect other people. I
am so sorry for the times I've “run at the mouth” and said things I shouldn't
have said. I realize how wrong this is and how I've stained other people's
opinions because I didn't control my mouth and emotions. I am turning to You
for help, and I'm asking You to help me control my tongue as I deal with these
issues that have festered inside me. Holy Spirit, please help me to overcome
the flesh and to allow You to have Your way in me! I pray
this in Jesus' name! Amen.
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