Heart Matters

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean." 

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

Matthew 23:25-28

Far too often we have been guilty of the same sin as the Pharisees. We have focused on cleaning the outside of the cup and have left the inside untended. We are like white-washed tombs. Crisp and clean on the outside but the inside is rotten and decaying. Far too many of us harbor secret sin in their hearts. We have perfected the outward show while remaining full of sin inwardly. This isn’t how it’s supposed to be!

The condition of your heart matters to God. At least 25 times in Scripture we are told that God looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). He probes the heart (Psalm 7:9). He weighs the heart (Proverbs 21:2). He tests the heart (Proverbs 17:3). And why does He do this? Why does God care so much about your heart? Let me give you three reasons God cares about the condition of your heart and why you should too.

1) God cares about your heart because it’s what directs your life

Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Biblically speaking, your heart is the wellspring of your whole life. Everything you do begins and ends there. Your life is directed by what you love and what you hate, what you set your heart on and you take to heart. All these things have a profound impact on you.

Proverbs 27:19 puts it this way, “As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.” Your entire life...everything you do... is just a reflection of what's in your heart. Whatever is in your heart will eventually come out of your mouth or come out in your actions. So, when you guard your heart, you guard your life.

2) God cares about your heart because it’s where sin begins

Mark 7:21–23 says, “For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” All these things begin in the heart! If you want to stop adultery or murder or sexual sin, or any sin you must fight and win the battle there!

What sin has taken up residence in your heart? Don’t you think it’s time you kicked it out?

3) God cares about your heart because it’s also where obedience begins

The first and second greatest commandments start with the heart. Matthew 22:37–40 says, “Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

The two greatest commandments in all of Scripture are about feelings. If you love rightly, if you get the heart at right, everything else will fall into place easily. In fact, Scripture teaches that God doesn’t want obedience that doesn’t come from the heart. In the OT and the NT God indicted His people saying, “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” (Isaiah 29:13). God wants obedience from the heart. 

It's time to take a long, hard look at your heart. In what ways is it directing your life? Are you hiding sin there? Or have you given your heart to God? Do you love Him above all else? Are you obeying from the heart or are you just going through the motions?