My child, love is a sacrifice and love is hard. It takes courage to choose to love when everything in your flesh is fighting the urge to throw up the walls and protect your fragile heart. I have given you My love. I sacrificed My life so that you could live a life of love. Don’t wall off your heart. Remain open to Me and choose to love.
We see in Scripture conflicting opinions about what causes sin, and therefore its remedy. The Jews—the Scribes and Pharisees in particular—viewed sin as being a product of a person’s outward behavior. So they attempted to manage it through a form of law which evolved over time into a system of commandments even stricter than those found in the Law of Moses.
Jesus, on the other hand, knew that sin is primarily a matter of the heart, saying in Matthew 15:19: “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.”
Since most of the sins just listed are acted out by our behavior, it’s not too hard to see them simply as a response by our flesh to some outside stimulus received through our natural senses. In other words: “I wanted it, so I did it!” But in reality, sin manifesting itself through the actions of our body is a symptom of a much more serious disease within.
Sin is a barometer of the heart—a very clear indicator of what is residing within self. Sin is more than just actions; it is rooted in our attitudes, intentions and motives. Given this fact, I find it disturbing (though not surprising) that it’s so common among Christians to ignore the significance of these inner motivations.
My child, you are loved, chosen and called. It’s not your talent and your ability that I am looking for. It’s your willing and open heart. I am the One who works through you. I give you talents, gifts and the ability to carry out what I have called you to do. It’s not you doing it. It’s Me doing it through you that will make a difference.
Regarding to our nature, a big question remains: can a leopard change its spots? Is the heart (self) capable of genuine change? This seems like kind of a silly question given all we’ve talked about regarding our nature because we’ve already spent a lot of time establishing the fact that, with God’s help, we can change. Yet I think it’s a valid question. I can see how I truly have changed, initially through my born again experience and then more slowly over the many years since. But in many ways I’m the same person I’ve always been. I know I’m still that same old me because of what sporadically surfaces in my heart when confronted with something that challenges the self-will still residing at the deepest levels of my being.
Moreover, there seems to be a paradox in Scripture as to whether or not the heart can change. On the one hand there are passages such as: “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?”(Jeremiah 17:9) Here the heart appears to be stubborn to the point of being incapable of fundamental change. And in fact our flesh does seem to be precisely that way—controllable maybe, but not entirely changeable. Paul seems to agree that this is so in his teaching in Romans 7.
On the other hand, The Bible implies that we have the power to change our heart by our choices—for both good and bad.(Hebrews 3:12) And not only that, but Scripture also seems to imply that our heart can actually in a sense be pure.(2 Timothy 2:22)
Can both be true? I think they can. The changed lives of millions of Christians down through the centuries are proof that the heart can indeed change. But unfortunately, there are millions more whose attitudes and behavior shed doubt on it. What’s the difference between the two? Choice. Our choices, made in response to each opportunity presented to us in life, make all the difference.
My child, I have called you to love. That means that you need to lower those protective walls you’ve had up around your heart. Trust Me with your heart. Those walls have only kept you from the very thing I want to infuse you with, My love. The enemy has deceived you into thinking you’re only protecting yourself from being hurt again. But by shielding your heart, you’ve become hardened and unable to experience all the emotions I have for you. The pain of a hard heart is far worse than the pain of a broken heart. A broken heart can be mended, a hard heart is another matter. It needs to be replaced. I desire to mend the broken hearted and replace the hearts of stone with hearts of flesh. But I require your cooperation. I require your full trust. Let Me have your whole heart. You can trust Me with it.
Isaiah 61:1 Ezekiel 36:26
My child, only I can change the heart. Only I can speak to the soul. You can pray, but I will turn the light on where there is darkness. You do your job and pray. I am doing Mine. I am working even when you don’t see results. Keep praying and keep believing. Trust Me to work this all out for good.
My child, watch what comes out of your mouth. It’s not only what goes in your mouth that shapes you, but also what comes out. For as your mouth speaks, so your heart believes. What you say to yourself and others will shape your life. Start speaking words of faith, hope and love and stop speaking words of doubt, fear and despair. Let the weak say I am strong and trust Me for great things.
Joel 3:10b