From the Heart

 A lot of times we talk about things coming "from the heart." Most of the time it means that we are very sincere about what we are saying. It can mean that it is coming from a heart of love for the other person. However, when we talk about our heart as who we are as a person, when we say something comes from the heart, it means something very different.

Jesus instructed the people about the heart and what comes out of it. (Mark 7:21-22) He said that from within, out of a person's heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy slander, pride, and foolishness. He was making a very important point for all of us.

We all make choices about what we will do and not do. Sometimes, we make good choices, and other times we make very bad choices. Most of that is based on what is in our heart. If we are not Christians, we do not have a new heart, so there will be all kinds of bad things that come out of our heart. We can't really stop from doing those things, except on rare occasions.

That is because our heart is desperately wicked, until we get saved, and the Lord gives us a new heart. Then, we are a new creation, so old things have passed away, and new things have come. However, even if we have been saved, we can let bad things into our heart, and they will come out. We can always know that what we do comes from our heart, so if it is bad, we need to confess sins to cleanse our heart from those things.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Mark 8-11.