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HEART SURGERY But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him 'unclean.” -John 15:18-20 We never cease to be amazed at the way a marriage can be radically changed for the better, almost instantaneously, when there is a genuine heart change. On the other hand, we feel saddened for those couples that struggle week-to-week, month-to-month, and sometimes even year-to-year to keep strife and dysfunction out of their relationship. A good week for them is a week without strife. Don’t even think about feelings of love and joy. The absence of hate and strife is about as good as it gets. That’s sad! Secular therapies often fail because the best they can do is to help manage the darkness. They can’t turn on the light. The light is turned on when Christ truly captures the heart of man, and exchanges his or her heart of stone for one of love –His love. When there is a spiritual heart transplant, then everything that comes from that heart is different. It’s love. Laws may work to prohibit harmful behaviors, but only the Gospel of Jesus Christ reaches into the source of all our actions and attitudes, the human heart, to purify them at the source. Without that heart change it is impossible to change attitudes and actions for more than a temporary period. Our sinful nature will always rear its ugly head to show the monster we are, the monster we try so hard to disguise, sometimes even with our religiosity. Without that crucial heart change we find only more frustration to compound the bitterness and contempt in our hard hearts. We make a bad situation worse. We find ourselves where Paul was when he said, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” –Romans 7:24 Take a sober look into your own heart. Ask the Holy Spirit to search you and expose the motives that lie therein. Then offer it up to Jesus, and ask Him for His heart. I warn you; you will die. But then He will raise you up again to a new and better life with His heart of love. You will know Him; you will know love. Question For the Both of Us: What is in our hearts toward each other? Can we be honest about it, without anger or strife, but rather extending God’s grace and forgiveness? Do we really want a heart change bad enough to sacrifice our own self-life for His? Pray For The Both Of Us: Lord, help us to place ourselves on your operating table for a heart transplant. Take our hearts diseased with sin and self-centeredness and replace it with your heart of love and selflessness. Help us to love. |
© 2007 Marriage & Family Savers Ministries