Jesus said, "You are what you do." (Mark 7.14-23) All of our actions stem from our heart. All of our actions and behaviors are manifestations of who we are. It seems simple, doesn't it? When we do good, our heart is good. When we do evil, our heart is evil. But it's not so simple. When we do evil things, yes, it is a manifestation of an evil heart. But when we do good things, it can be a manifestation of a good OR a bad heart. If we do good things for selfish reasons, those good things come from a bad heart. If we do good things for loving reasons, those actions stem from a good heart.
There is a popular idea that our identity has nothing to do with our actions. You hear this all the time. For instance, someone has a one-night stand. That person is ashamed, and the person softens the shame by saying, "That's not who I really am." Ultimately such reasoning is just self-deception, an attempt to escape the pain of guilt and shame. It is an attempt to look away from the examination of the heart. When we say, "I'm better than that," after doing something bad, we're just deceiving ourselves. Since our actions are manifestations of our heart, then when we do something bad, it shows that our heart is bad. And even though we may say, "I'm better than that," the reality is, we're not. We just don't want to acknowledge that there's something awful and sickening and grotesque about our hearts. And honestly, I'm tired of hearing people who have done bad things try to scrape the guilt off their plate by engaging in self-deception.
And honestly, I'm tired of doing it myself. I've begun examining my heart--as everyone should do. I'm examining my heart from the perspective of my emotions, my thought life, my behavior, my secret and public desires. Getting to the root cause of it all. And I'm finding that my heart is very bad. But I have hope: because God offers to us a new heart with a new spirit. We just need to take it. And to everyone who does bad things and turns their eyes from it, I'm here to tell you, "You're not a good person. But with God's help, you can become a good person." Or at least a better person.
There is a popular idea that our identity has nothing to do with our actions. You hear this all the time. For instance, someone has a one-night stand. That person is ashamed, and the person softens the shame by saying, "That's not who I really am." Ultimately such reasoning is just self-deception, an attempt to escape the pain of guilt and shame. It is an attempt to look away from the examination of the heart. When we say, "I'm better than that," after doing something bad, we're just deceiving ourselves. Since our actions are manifestations of our heart, then when we do something bad, it shows that our heart is bad. And even though we may say, "I'm better than that," the reality is, we're not. We just don't want to acknowledge that there's something awful and sickening and grotesque about our hearts. And honestly, I'm tired of hearing people who have done bad things try to scrape the guilt off their plate by engaging in self-deception.
And honestly, I'm tired of doing it myself. I've begun examining my heart--as everyone should do. I'm examining my heart from the perspective of my emotions, my thought life, my behavior, my secret and public desires. Getting to the root cause of it all. And I'm finding that my heart is very bad. But I have hope: because God offers to us a new heart with a new spirit. We just need to take it. And to everyone who does bad things and turns their eyes from it, I'm here to tell you, "You're not a good person. But with God's help, you can become a good person." Or at least a better person.
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