The heart is the womb of deception!
Fear and courage, love and lust, joy and jealousy, hatred and happiness, all make their habitation in the heart.
“From within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly,” says Jesus Mark 7:21-22.
Why we do the things we do is a mystery that the finest minds cannot explain. There are halos and horns in human nature. We have been created just “a little lower than the angels” Psalm 8:5, but at times our thoughts and conduct are downright devilish. Locked within the heart is the divine spark to achieve the sublime. But often we do the ridiculous.
A Divine Gift
If we are to be happy in an unhappy world, Jesus teaches, we must have a pure heart. This doesn’t mean we are to attain to sinless perfection, a spiritual state in which it would be impossible for us ever to sin again. Nor does it mean we must live in a monastery, looking pious and mouthing religious slogans.
A pure heart comes from God. “ I will give you a new heart,” the Lord says, “and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” Ezek. 36:26.
We can’t gain a pure heart by our own efforts. Our generation has been told to think positively. There is certainly much value in having a positive mental attitude. But there is also a great deception if we tell ourselves, My thoughts are positive therefore my heart is pure.
Our hearts can’t be made right with God through any mental process. A pure heart is the result of a divine miracle made possible by the will of God through the death of Christ on the cross. It happens when we are born “not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God” John 1:13.
Source: Being Happy in an Unhappy World
Spiritual Growth
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