The Heart of SignificanceSample

Matters of the Heart

Jesus always addressed the matters of the heart. That’s the place from which our lives are lived. It’s the basic reason that material things are a poor thermometer for measuring our spirituality. 

Biblical management is not restriction in the sense of killing dreams or creativity. It’s quite the opposite. True management of the heart is an invitation for purpose and liberty. The laws of God don’t restrict us from freedom or from our own unique expression. Each of God’s commandments is an invitation to life. He who designed us knows exactly what is needed for us to become all that He intended. His commandments are just that: invitations. Every word invites us further into this relational journey where we know Him more and behold Him more clearly. Perhaps you’ve read that “when we see Him, we will become like Him” (1 John 3:2). It’s true. But it can also be said that “as we see Him, we will become like Him.”

To fail at managing our inner world but instead work at managing our outward behavior only is an invitation for disaster. All the issues of life flow from our inner man. Seeing this clearly is what helps us to prioritize what’s important to Him. Jesus warns of the kinds of things that come from the heart of a person, and it is sobering indeed.

But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.

—Matthew 15:18–20

Many of the things we dislike about our lives were first put into place through carelessness in our speech. And while you may be able to find abuses to this principle on the power of our words through confession, the fact remains the same: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” That is the Bible—Proverbs 18:21, to be exact. Many who attack the issues of confession and faith have undermined their own invitation to know and become like the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whose words were spirit and life. (See John 6:63.)

We are disciples of Jesus. He said what the Father was saying. We have access to that same reality and can say what is in the heart of our heavenly Father at any given moment. But when our speech contradicts what He is saying, regardless of how spiritual it sounds to our friends, it is foolish. And there’s not one of us who enjoys harvesting from the seeds planted in those times. The mind focused on the flesh brings death and is incapable of obeying what God is saying. Such harmful speech reveals where the mind has set its focus. (See Romans 8:6–8.) And whether you care to accept it or not, that carnal focus is at war with God.

I find it alarming that so many speak negatively and think God is OK with it. Just because some abuse this principle for selfish gain doesn’t legitimize the neglect of truth. The abuse of a principle never legitimizes the neglect of that principle.

Each word Jesus speaks becomes spirit and life. Think of it: Words become spirit; they become presence. And that presence gives life. That’s the nature of His voice to us. It breathes life into the soul of the listener. When we partner with the Father as Jesus exemplified, we too bring life into dead situations.