A guest post from Civilla M. Morgan - https://childlessnotbychoice.net/
Your heart is the front door, the entryway to all that you are. Just like the front door of your dwelling, the place where your worldly possessions are kept. The place where you take off your shoes. The place where you lay your head every night. You would keep an eye on what and who goes back and forth through the door of your dwelling place right?
No one wants a rabid raccoon or a bear entering their home. As docile as a deer or a cow may be in the wild, they would still wreak havoc in your home.
I imagine it goes without saying, that allowing any of those animals, docile or not so much, into your home would be an invitation for an attack on you, or on your family members. Mayhem would ensue!
But your heart. What does all of that have to do with your heart? Well, what if I told you that allowing uncontrolled, negative, even ugly thoughts and feelings into your heart is much like allowing untamed creatures to dwell in your physical home? What if those certain friendships, un-Christlike world views, or negative belief systems took up residence in your heart?
Those negative beliefs, behaviors, and associations would gradually take up residence in your heart and finally take over. They would turn a clean, neat, and tidy home into a messy place. There would be spills, tears, rips, and misplaced items throughout your home. And instead of admitting the mess exists, you might cover it up or hide it when you had company.
But the funny thing about dirt is that it eventually shows up and shows through, pouring out of your heart at the least likely and opportune times.
Jeremiah 17: 9-10 says “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? 10 “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” --NIV.
Here is The Message version:
“The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful, a puzzle that no one can figure out. But I, God, search the heart and examine the mind. I get to the heart of the human. I get to the root of things. I treat them as they really are, not as they pretend to be.” Wow, that is direct. So, God knows our hearts even if we pretend to ourselves and to the world.
According to Blueletterbible.org, the word ‘heart’ is mentioned over 800 times in the Bible. That tells me the subject of the heart is important to God. It is important because it is a doorway. And doorways are important because they can lead us from one place to the next. They let things in or allow things to exit. Things such as how we really feel about someone, something, or some issue. Doors protect privacy, valuables, and feelings.
We can make ourselves and others believe that our heart is right and pure. Sure, we say that ‘no one is perfect, we all mess up at some point.’ And of course, that is true. There is no perfect human. But if we are honest with ourselves, over the last couple of years, we have been witnessing a change in some of our friends, family, and even in ourselves. I believe this pandemic has changed us. But I also believe it has brought out of our hearts what was already there. And if you add loss: the grief of losing a loved one, a job, a way of life, etc., on top of the pandemic; we are indeed different whether we want to admit it or not.
We can hide the rabid raccoon, stray bear, or stain on the couch for a little while; but only for so long.
What to do?
Here is what I suggest: admit to yourself and to God, that those things are in your house, your heart, and then start using the best cleaning agent against these things: the Word of God. Tell God that you want the negative thoughts, feelings, and behaviors gone. He will clean your heart because He wants them gone too. He will convict your heart in love when those things try to enter and take over again.
Remember King David? He did some real soap opera-level stuff, didn’t he? I mean, adultery and cold-blooded murder immediately come to mind. There was so much blood on his hands that God would not even allow him to build a temple in His honor. Yet God literally called him a man after his own heart!
‘After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’--Acts 13:22. NIV.
Now granted, God said this before David did those things, but nothing David did surprised God. And I don’t see anywhere in the scriptures where God changed His mind about David. And He will not change His mind about you.
As God cleans your heart, you have work to do as well. You have to now watch what you allow into your front door, into your heart.
The Bible also says:
‘Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.’--Proverbs 4:23. NIV. This is one of my favorite verses.
What I really love about this verse is that it is quite clear, no matter the version from which we read. There is no nuance, and there is no wiggle room. It’s not an allegory, analogy, or parable. Once you have read and understood this verse, you can’t say you did not know.
The scripture literally says to protect your heart because everything you say, do, your reactions, belief systems, hatred, love, feelings, and opinions; all of it is in your heart and it will flow from your heart.
Nothing stays hidden forever.
When we were kids, my parents used to tell us, that “the old people” used to say to them, “if it’s one minute to morning, the truth will come out.”
Why not work on your heart so that the right things are in there. Fill your heart with truth, love, empathy, character, integrity, goodness, godliness, the fruit of the spirit, and believing the best about people. It takes work. But it will be worth it. Strive to be a man or woman after God’s own heart. Don’t give up even when you mess up. And even if you do mess up, God will not change His mind about you.
-Civilla M. Morgan
Sources:
https://www.blueletterbible.org/search/search.cfm?Criteria=heart&t=KJV&ss=1#s=s_primary_0_1
