Discerning the Heart!
August 9, 2008 by Tina
The heart is the most important aspect of our being. We should know more about our hearts than anything else right? But in fact we know very little about our hearts and that is why we reduce our relationship with God to a bunch of rules and regulations.
Law does not allow us to understand our own hearts. Many times we do all the right things for all the wrong reasons. Let me explain his…for example if two people commit the same actions, one can be sincere and honest and the other can be manipulative and deceitful.
On the outside when we look at them they may look the same but on the inside they had different motivations!
The bible says we are not to judge lest we be judged! That is a very powerful statement! Why? Simple, only God can judge our hearts. He knows us better then we know ourselves! And it’s good to know he looks on the inside (the heart)!
Have you ever came across someone who says “He has such a good heart”
Think about that for a second…How does he really know if that person has a good heart? But then you could even ask “How do you really know and how can you past judgment?”
We can’t even judge our own hearts much less someone else’s! The bible says the Word of God will discern, judge, or sift our hearts! Many people serve God but not with a true heart…The condition of their hearts may be filled with good things or bad things!
Proverbs 14:14 says, “The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways.” All may look good on the outside, but what’s on the inside?
I can say for myself I got saved in June 1999 and when I started to learn about God I knew things of him but did not have a personal relationship with him. Why? I was afraid of him. Why? Well I had a childhood that was very dysfunctional and I was raised in a very legalistic church background.
I was taught that you had to do all these things and if you didn’t then God was going to toss you away. It was all about works and the do’s and dont’s instead of the love and grace of God.
I lived under fear, judgment, and condemnation. It was if I do good then God was proud of me but as soon as I did something bad I ran from God….and that is exactly what God does not want you to do! What opened my eyes was about a year ago I found out that it was not about me….it was about God working in and through me and it changed my life!
It was not about how good I was or all the good I could do. It was not about the clothing I wore or the food I ate, It was not about how much time I spent serving the church or the amount of money I gave….it was about the power of God living in and through me to produce fruit.
It was about God loving me and already knowing me, my heart, as damaged as I was and how my heart was crushed he knew why my heart was crushed and he simply wanted me to come to know him more intimately. Really I was just going through the motions instead of really having a loving meaningful relationship with God. I was scared of him.
To live in the peace of the gospel we need to have the right heart. Be real and transparent with each other but most of all with ourselves and God!
Our hearts are the seat of our emotions and will. Our emotions can be stimulated from our spirits or from our flesh. Our emotions can be very deceitful!
Many people live for God but they are robbed of confidence because of condemnation. Some people live for self and deceive themselves into believing they are right before God.
Bottom line, our emotions are not a stable indicator of the condition of our hearts! In 1st John 3:18 verse 21 it says: to assure or persuade our hearts before God. Verses 18-19 say that the only way to know we are in truth is by loving in both word and deed. Walking in love can settle the issue when our hearts condemn us!
Works do not earn us a position or favor with God. But the fruit that comes forth because of our relationship with God helps to assure our hearts!
It becomes a mirror to our inner man! When our hearts do not condemn us we have confidence and we receive whatever we ask! Having confidence is an important part of faith!
We must first have a confident expectation of God. We must have confidence of our own standing before God.
See 1st John 3:22 says: “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are leasing in his sight.”
We could say: See you must keep the commandments to get your prayers answered. But remember, the context is walking in love! Keeping the commandments does not earn answered prayer, Instead keeping His commandments assures our hearts!
The way we live in regard to our beliefs on the Lord Jesus and walking in love, reveals the condition of our hearts! When we remove the threat of judgment we have the opportunity th see what is really in the heart of a person. Truth will reveal the condition of the heart. It will sort out the real motives and intentions.
In Hebrews 4:12 it says “For the word of God is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
Let us study the word of God so it can change our hearts! Remember it’s a heart issue and only Jesus can judge our hearts! Let others see you as transparent so that the light of God can shine through you to others.
Some material in this blog was used from the Book entitled “The gospel of Peace!” By: Dr. James Richards. I recommend this book it is a very thought provoking powerful book that gives you insight. For a 20% discount of the retail price you can go to Gospel of Peace
Be Blessed!!!!
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Hey, great blog here, I agree with all you said, we have to be careful on how we try and judge other people, even if we think they are doing good, they can still be doing it for the wrong reasons, only God really knows their true intentions
You said it best my good friend! God Bless