Three Truths About Your Heart

I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them.

–Ezekiel 11:19–20

Most of us have been influenced by Greek thinking, which separated the heart from the mind. But in biblical Jewish culture, the heart was the center of a person’s being, the seat of the intellect and will. In other words, when I talk about your heart, I’m talking about the real you.

In order to experience the benefits of living in God’s kingdom, our hearts need to be renovated. Why is that? Let me share three biblical truths about our hearts.

First of all, the Bible teaches that our hearts determine our behavior. Acts of sexual immorality, dishonesty, greed, and anger are not involuntary; they are reflections of what is happening in our hearts. Jesus made that clear in Matthew 12:35: “The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.” To try to change a person’s behavior without changing their heart is useless. Have you broken any New Year’s resolutions? Then you know that resolve is not enough to change our behavior. That’s why I think we are setting our teenagers up for failure when we try to modify their behavior–for example, in the area of sexual immorality–without also cultivating hearts that want to please God. Resolve is not enough to change a person’s behavior. Our hearts determine our behavior.

Second, our hearts have become polluted by sin. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick.” The pollution in our hearts can be traced back to Adam and Eve’s decision to rebel against God in the garden of Eden. Romans 5:12 says, “Just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.” Our hearts have become polluted because of sin.

But the third truth is that our hearts, even though defective, can be transformed. In Ezekiel 11:19–20, God said, “I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them.” Notice the sequence of events: The only way we will obey God is if He first puts a new heart within us. Our hearts can be transformed.

Today’s devotion is adapted from “Heart Surgery” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2008.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.