Keepin It Real

My Pastor recently discussed behavior modification. He stated that we can smile and agree etc while being jealous or angry etc underneath , in our heart. You see God is not about behavior modification He is about transformation. And true change comes from a heart change. The reality is when you heart is in the wrong place, with the wrong attitudes, and in the wrong spirit then regardless of how well you can control your outward actions it is not in truth. It is not real. It is like putting on a costume and pretending to be somebody you are not. Now don't get me wrong, God definitely wants us to do right in our actions towards one another however He knows when it comes from a heart that is right and when it does not. He is not interested in giving you a list of rules to follow on how to be nice as you grit your teeth and mumble under your breath. He is concerned with our heart, with the cause of the symptoms and not in sticking a bandage over it but with total healing, complete change!

Matthew 15:18-20

¹⁸ But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. ¹⁹ For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. ²⁰ These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”

 

1 Samuel 16:7

⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees;^[a] for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Ezekiel 36:26-27 

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

It is the heart that brings forth everything else and without a heart change, a head change and an action change are just sweeping dirt under a rug. We are still filthy, but we have just dressed it up on the outside, made it look appealing, and hidden what really needs to be dealt with. God is not wanting to repair the "old you". Let my put it this way, He doesn't take a caterpillar and glue wings on. It goes into the cocoon a caterpillar and comes out an entirely different creation. He is not trying to stick wings on us, He is making us new from the inside out. We must not place such an emphasis on our actions, we need to stress the matters of the heart.

All of this comes from a personal experience of mine recently. I was operating with the wrong heart. I was trying to keep myself in check outwardly and yet failing to keep myself in check inwardly. I was allowing pride in and then bitterness and resentment began to build up. I was no longer walking in humility and loving my sister in Christ but was operating out of a haughty spirit. I was not looking out for her heart and her best interest above my own interest. I felt wronged, taken advantage of, and disregarded and a root of bitterness came in. Now perhaps my perception is accurate and all these things are true and I was done wrong etc. It doesn't change the fact that MY HEART was in the wrong place and I cannot help my brothers and sisters with their speck if I have a log blocking my vision. Not to mention the fact that this can destroy me and harm many others if I allow it to remain and continue.

The point is we have to keep it real! No cover ups. No making excuses and trying to justify our behavior. This is our life and the lives of others that are affected and that we toy with when we refuse to deal with the real issues. Let us place our hearts before God and ask Him to show us our hearts and keep us in step with His heart, with His Spirit.

 

Hebrews 4:12

12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

James 1:21

²¹ Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. ²² But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. ²³ For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; ²⁴ for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. ²⁵ But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

 

 

Psalm 139:23

²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
²⁴ And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.