We could say, "I love you SO much!" and scowl contemptuously. Our hearts would reflect contempt, not a genuine love. If we said that phrase in such a way, it would reflect a sarcastic spirit, born out of anger, resentment, and judgment. Jesus commands that we love those who persecute us but if we have spent years returning evil for evil, (the "eye for an eye" mentality), then following Jesus' command to love those who act hostile seems impossible. We must not be hard on ourselves. Remember, we've taken years to build up habit patterns that "make up" our heart and its responses to the world.

God does not expect us to instantly have a pure heart and be able to have love gush out of our hearts for people we've been despising for a long time. "I love you SO much!" can be turned into the truth of our genuine love, flowing from our hearts to people who have been denied Christ's saving love for much too long. But it requires vigilance. We must evaluate the thoughts as they pour out of us, for by our awareness of their tone, we can clearly determine the level of purity. If we realize our thoughts and motives are impure, we can ask Jesus to pull out His whip of cords and drive those defilements from our body temple. God will help us since it is He who is asking us to have a pure heart. Our free will remains free. Therefore, we freely give this problem of our defiled thoughts to Him as often as is necessary.

Mark 7:14 After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, "Listen to Me, all of you, and understand:
7:15 there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man.
7:16 [If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."] (NASB)

In the holistic health arena, there are countless theories concerning diets and their consequences. Are there certain foods we should eat which can help us obtain this "pure heart"? Perhaps if we ate only organic vegetables, avoiding chemicals? Maybe meat causes us to be aggressive or angry? We've heard we are what we eat. Some say the fear that shot through the animal's system just before slaughter somehow becomes ingrained in us when we eat it. Perhaps we should become organic vegetarians and then we would obtain a "pure heart." According to the scripture above, however, Jesus said it isn't what a man puts into his body which defiles him.

For those in the New Age who are caught up in astrology, perhaps there are forces from the planets and constellations which send invisible waves that influence us in some mysterious way, causing us to have bad days and, therefore, impure hearts. Is this Biblical? No. Jesus said there is nothing outside of man which can defile him.

Perhaps someone has come into our lives who appears to reek with carnality and seems to love evil. Perhaps whenever he comes into our presence, we are overcome with dread and can't wait to get away from this individual. We may be unable to feel an ounce of love or compassion for such a person. Suppose it is someone at work or worse, a family member and we cannot just walk away from his evil presence. Oh, to be free of him! We pray this sincerely, but he stays and stays and stays, his carnal influence plaguing us. Can we be blamed if we harbor evil thoughts about him? It isn't we who are so evil! So how can we be held responsible for disliking a wicked person? Sorry to say, the buck cannot be passed. Jesus said there is nothing outside of man which can defile him. We are walking in judgment, rather than love. So, what does God want from us?

He wants us to know Him and trust Him and praise Him in all things. He wants us to submit to Him, not to our circumstances. We can fight and scream and throw ourselves face down on the floor, begging God to take away our troublesome burden. But God remains strangely quiet. Our pleas for peace by elimination remain unanswered. God asks us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. He does not ask us to be in charge of changing others. He does, however, ask us to allow Him to remove our logs from our eyes and learn to see beyond appearances. It takes much trust and faith to come to this point where we can really let go and let Him write upon our hearts, changing our perception about someone. Only when this happens genuinely, can God alter the circumstances and bring a miracle into our lives.

Our hearts can become pure because it is God who desires it of us. Because of our free will, it is not possible for God to change us against our will. But He has other ways. He will set up circumstances in which we are so pained by us not following His will, that eventually we will cry "Uncle" and submit to His will. Is He doing this to be cruel and make us angry? No, He is doing this to help us, through Christ, become the way we really want to be, mature in Him. He wants a pure heart where His Holy Spirit can reside, fruitfully bringing people whom He places in our vicinity, home to Him. Home to God.

Mark 7:20 And He was saying, "That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man.
7:21 "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries,
7:22 deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness.
7:23 "All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man." (NASB)

When these thoughts come out of us, they are showing us that, on a deeper level, we are defiled. So being defiled is actually deeper than those thoughts which are bubbling to the surface. Can there be any doubt that all in this fallen world are in need of God's healing?

Back

TOC

Next