Your Heart
Your Heart
In the Old Testament we find this: Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (NASB 2020)
When we read about the heart in such contexts we are not talking about the physical organ. Instead, it refers to our core being. It is synonymous with our spirit, but generally when heart is used rather than spirit it is because we are talking about our base desires.
When we talk about our heart, we are talking about our inner longings, our true feelings apart from our mental and emotional oscillations. When we think of our heart’s desire, we think of what we truly want rather than what we might say we want out of duty or due to the expectations of others.
As those who are in Christ, in our hearts we do not truly desire wrongful or hurtful things. Deep in our hearts, our longing is to know God as intimately as possible, to act in godly ways, and to be loving. This is because God took out our cold hard heart and gave us a warm loving heart. We read about this in several places including Colossians 2:11–12 “and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision performed without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. (NASB 2020) (see also Deuteronomy 30:6, Ezekiel 11:19 & 36:26)
If you do not truly in your deepest being want these things, then why do you care so deeply about ungodly attitudes and actions? Why does it make you unsettled when, for example, you lash out at a family member? It’s more than simple regret. Ungodliness is unsettling to you at a much deeper level than that. It’s more like heartbreak and disappointment with yourself than guilt and regret.
You care so much about that because you truly want to act like who you now are, a righteous holy godly child of God.
Romans 5:5 tells us that “the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (NASB 2020) Since that is true, how can our hearts possibly be anything but loving? Your heart is not deceitful, sick, and wicked. You’ve been given a new trustworthy, healthy and holy heart.
