The Heart Habit

Matthew 15:1-20

Jesus had this habit. I call it the "heart habit". He had a habit of pulling a conversation back to the condition of people's hearts. The Pharisees complained because Jesus's disciples were not following the Jewish tradition of washing their hands before they ate (not a bad tradition I might say).

Maybe the Pharisees felt like they got Jesus on this. "Ah ha! The disciples are making a mistake!" Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, 'Honor your father', and 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death'. But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, 'Whatever help you might otherwise receive from me is a gift devoted to God,' he is not to honor his father with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition" (Matthew 15:3-6). Tradition is important but obedience is even more important.

The disciples were confused by Jesus interaction with the Pharisees. Jesus ask them, “Are you still so dull? . . . Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them” (Matthew 15:16-20).

It is the heart that matters. Evil has many manifestations but one source--the condition of our hearts. I like how Joshua Harris in Not Even a Hint: Guarding Your Heart Against Lust connects masturbation to the heart. He said, "The reason this very private act matters to God is not because it involves our genitals, but because it involves our hearts. And God is passionately committed to our hearts belonging to Him. Masturbation isn't a filthy habit that makes people dirty. It only reveals the dirt that's already in our hearts. It's an indicator that we're feeding the wrong desires" (p.101). I feel like this idea can be applied more broadly than just to lust.

It comes back to looking at my daily life. What bubbles up in my ordinary gut reactions? Is it love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? Or is it sexual immorality, impurity, idolatry, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, and envy? (See Galatians 5:19-26). These are all indicators of my heart.

Father, please take my heart. Make my heart yours. Transform me this very moment! I need your transforming power!