The Heart Matters

Proverbs 4:23

Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.

We live from the heart, according to the above text. As much as we use our minds to make decisions and so on, the mind is always influenced by the heart. The heart is the core of every human being. Most of the things we do and say are determined by the heart, and what’s in it. By heart I am not talking about the flesh organ that pumps blood in our bodies, rather the core of every human being, the part of you that contains your affections, belief system, passions, perspectives, and so on.

When you were conceived, I believe there was nothing engraved on your heart, as far as affections, belief systems, passions, perspectives etc. are concerned. By and by, with the mind as the processing unit/plant of the heart, you started developing these, and engraving them in and on your heart. Whatever goes into the heart has to go through the mind first. Whatever is in the heart eventually influences what is in the mind. For example, no one was born knowing his sex, and how to behave as a man/woman. Of course there are some intuitive behaviours and adaptations we were born with, such as a girl child talking more than the boy child, the boy child being more hyperactive than the girl, and so on. However, as far as how to behave like a man/woman ethically is concerned, we learnt most things by observation and teaching, from our parents and the world around us. By and by, these things started being engraved in our hearts, and eventually we don’t need to concentrate much on doing them, they come naturally. For example, when I was a young child, I started copying my mother, and putting on her dresses and shoes. My parents laughed, but always told me that boys don’t do that. So whenever I went to reach out to the dresses or desiring to wear feminine clothing, I remembered what I was told. Eventually, this fact was engraved in my heart, and I ended up not even desiring such, and sticking to men’s wears. I didn’t need my parents to remind me what to desire and wear or not, and even stopped relying on my mind to tell me what’s of men/women and not; it just came intuitively, from what I had written on my heart.

In the same way, many of the things we do today we don’t even think about, we just do them intuitively, such as our responses to some things/people, preferences to food, clothes, and so on. For example, the reason why some people cannot even think about eating some foods and are even disgusted by them is because in their hearts they’ve already registered the fact that those foods are not appealing, healthy, and so on. When they eat them, out of what they’ve believed, they’ll have those effects manifesting. Yes some people are allergic to some foods, but there are people who have certain reactions to some foods when they eat them, that come from their belief system, as far as those foods are concerned. For example, when I was a child my brother was devious, and since he loved sausages, and wanted them all for himself, told me that sausages were made from something bad and disgusting, that to me were inedible. So, he told me to bring sausages to him. Every time I tried to eat a sausage, I would feel like vomiting, and ended up throwing them away, or giving them to him when he was around. When I grew up, I somehow even forgot the real reason why I didn’t like sausages, and intuitively just disliked them, and had that same reaction, even wondering why people liked them. I can’t remember when this changed, but it was much older, that I tried eating them, and kept telling myself they were good, and slowly this reaction disappeared. Today, I love sausages, and never have any of those reactions.

What’s my point? Some of the things we do today are as a result of wrong belief systems, and these are what affects our relationship with God, and keep us from walking and living as He wants us to, and keep us from receiving from God, and being fruitful. These wrong belief systems, passions, perspectives and affections affect how we speak and act, what we speak and do, when, where, with who and so on. Until our hearts are worked on, we’ll keep struggling with the actions and words (fruits), and for a while may seem to be winning, but eventually we end up back the way we were speaking and acting, as the root is still bad. Jesus said:

Matthew 12:33-35

"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. ³⁴ "Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. ³⁵ "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things."

This text doesn’t only apply to speech, but also all we do. If our hearts are messed up, our actions, words, view of life, belief system and so on will be messed up. Many a times we hear God’s Word, how we’re supposed to be and act, and rush to act and live so, and end up decorating the fruit, whereas the root is still rotten. Eventually, we end up being like the Pharisees:

Matthew 23:26-28

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. ²⁷ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. ²⁸ Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. "

They were blind, as they couldn’t see the whole picture and had their minds blinded by the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4), and the problem is that they couldn’t see they were blind, so they could never be helped!

John 9:39-41

And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind." ⁴⁰ Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, "Are we blind also?" ⁴¹ Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.' Therefore your sin remains.”

Jesus didn’t mean that they weren’t blind, but that they were blind, but didn’t admit to being blind. Where was their blindness coming from? They were blinded by Satan as we’ve seen (2 Cor. 4:4), but this happened when they opened the door to the devil:

Jeremiah 17:8-9

The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? ¹⁰ I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.

They had allowed their own hearts to deceive them, and ended up in Satan’s bondage. Since they didn’t want to turn to the Lord completely and whole-heartedly, they continued in deception, with a fake appearance of 'right and clean' on the outside, but the hearts were filthy to God. God is not just interested in what we do, but how and why we do it. While man focuses on the outside, God focuses on the heart:

1 Samuel 16:7

But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

God does not just want us to do good; He wants us to be good. As I like saying, we are human BEings, not human DOings; we don’t do to become. We become, then we do. In other words, our identity is what we determines our actions, not the other way round. If our hearts are good, we’ll do good, as Jesus said. If our hearts are bad, we’ll do bad, and the little 'good' that we do will still be bad in God’s eyes, as the root is still bad.

God gave us a new heart, and a new spirit (Ezek. 36:26), having taken the heart of stone out. So, do we have two hearts? Actually, we have three. You are a 3 part being; you are a spirit, possessing a soul, living in a body (1 Thess. 5:23). Your spirit and soul have everything your body does, and it’s all over the Scriptures: mind (Eph. 4:23-24, 1 Cor. 2:16, Jas. 1:8); eyes (2 Ki. 6:17, Eph. 1:18), and so on. So, your physical body has a heart (what pumps blood); your soul has a heart (the unrenewed part of you, where all your belief systems are, as well as your affections, perspectives, passions and so on); your spirit also has a heart (the new heart given by God). So, if God took the heart of stone out, how come then we need to “make the tree good”, and allow Him to work on our hearts? If God took the heart that we’ve always had since birth, where all our belief systems, passions, perspectives, affections etc. are, then we’d forget everything the moment we are saved, and by everything I mean all we’ve written on our hearts since we were born. Since our souls weren’t saved, our hearts weren’t saved. So, which “heart of stone” did God remove? It was the heart of our old and sinful unregenerated spirit, our old nature, that died (Rom. 6:1-23). Our hearts still needs work, as this is in our soul, together with our mind.

The reason why some people are saved and continue to live as though nothing happened is because they do not allow the work that happened in their spirits to affect their hearts (what's in their souls). Salvation started when we believed with our hearts, in the Lord Jesus (Rom. 10:9-10). Salvation is not just change of mind, but change of heart. We’re always told to live and love from the heart, as it’s harder to change the heart that in it to change the mind. A change of heart and mind is what repentance is. So, as we walk with Christ, it just doesn’t help if we change our minds and renew them with the Word; what helps is when, through renewal of the mind, we change our hearts too, and this is what transformation is:

Romans 12:2

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Renewing of the mind by the Word of God is what brings transformation of the heart. It doesn’t stop at renewing of the mind; it goes deeper, into the heart. God wants us to allow His Word to change our hearts, not just our minds. When our hearts are transformed by His Word, our thoughts, perspectives, passions, affections, belief systems and so on will be changed. The more our hearts are transformed by the Word of God, the more Christ is seen in and through us. For this to happen, we have to agree that our hearts need work, and spend time in the Word of God and prayer, allowing Him to search our hearts and show us what needs to be worked on, by His Word:

Psalms 139:23-24

Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; ²⁴ And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.

Jeremiah 17:10a

I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind…

1 Thessalonians 2:4

But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts.

Hebrews 4:14

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Only God, through His Word and Spirit, can tell what’s in your heart, and change it. He knows why you are doing what you are doing, and how you can change. As long as we say we see (our hearts are okay), like the Pharisees, God can’t change us. For example, today, you can walk to many people and tell them, by God’s Word and the fruit that’s seen in their lives, that they are wicked, evil, jealous, envious, proud, greedy, people-pleasers, insecure, lustful, angry, hurt, gluttonous, lying etc., but how many will agree with you? Most addicts don’t even admit to their addiction. I was addicted to cigarette smoking and other things for over 8 years, and never admitted to some of the addictions. On my 8^th year of addiction to cigarettes, a doctor friend of mine came to me and told me I was addicted and needed help, and I told him, “I am not addicted; I smoke for fun, and can stop when I want to.” Many of the people who really need help (Jesus did not come for the well and who can see, but those who are sick and blind – Matt. 9:12, Jn. 9:39) don’t admit they do; therefore, they remain that way.

The reason why some of us do the things we do that we don’t like or aren’t acceptable (outbursts of anger, lying, stealing, craving for people’s attention etc.), is because these are the things that are in our hearts:

Mark 7:20-23

And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. ²¹ For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, ²² thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. ²³ All these evil things come from within and defile a man."

For a while, we’ve been striving to deal with the fruit (actions, words), whereas the root is rotten. God wants us to focus more on our hearts, as when we do the fruit will be dealt with, and cleansed. Every time you see a bad fruit in you (seen through thoughts, actions, words etc.), don't rush to clean it up; ask God if it's stemming from a bad root, so that you may deal with the problem at the root. If a tree's roots are bad, a farmer may keep cutting off the leaves, branches and taking away the fruits, but they'll keep coming back. This explains why we may still be struggling with thoughts and desires of anger, lust, greed, jealousy, covetousness, pride, selfishness, depression, lying/deceit etc.; we may suppress them, but they're still there. Until we surrender to God and let Him show us how to deal with the roots, the struggle will remain. Victory is not in suppressing evil; it's in overcoming the evil with good (Rom. 12:21), where the evil in our hearts is replaced by the good from God and His Word. As we walk with God, we need to keep being surrendered to His Word and Spirit and He'll keep revealing to us the condition of our hearts, not to condemn us, but change us, so that we can reflect Him more and more, and live the kind of life He wants us to live. There are many things in our hearts that need work, and if we rely on our minds and understanding to pick them out, we'll keep missing them. We're told to trust God with all our hearts, and not lean on our own understanding (Prov. 3:5). God will use people to help you see what's in your heart, as you can't see yourself. When He does, don't be quick to defend yourself, rather surrender to God in humility, and let Him show you whether this is true, and what to do about it all. Many of us are calling bad roots and demonic influences in our lives "weaknesses", and excusing them in our lives. For example, if you have been struggling with lying, depression, lust, greed, evil thoughts, anger etc. for a months or years, and you keep "repenting" and it just doesn't seem to go away, have you paused to think that maybe the problem may be more deeply rooted than you think, and it may be a demonic oppression, or spiritual bondage? Until we face the facts, which is that we need help, we cannot walk in the freedom that Christ came to give us. It is knowledge of the truth that sets us free (Jn. 8:32). Truth may hurt and not be what we want to hear, but it's still our key to us walking in freedom. 

Faith is not denying facts, rather accepting facts but seeing the truth. Some people in confessing faith and calling those things that are not as though they are end up denying facts, and therefore the truth never prevails. For this reason, though their hearts don't really believe what they're confessing, they'll struggle to confess it, trusting that this will bring lasting change. Faith doesn't speak to believe; faith believes, then speaks:

2 Corinthians 4:13

And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak...

For example, some people are bitter, angry, full of unbelief, weak, depressed and so on, and instead of accepting to this, they deny it, speaking contrary, thinking that when they do they will change. God wants us to approach Him in humility and sincerity of heart, acknowledging the facts, allowing Him to work on our hearts and the issues of our hearts, then we start speaking what His Word says about us, seeing ourselves in light of the Word. When someone comes to confront you about something you've admitted to God that's in your heart and surrendered and believe He's working on, just tell them that yes you've had that problem, but you surrendered to God and He's working on it. Some do this and end up denying that they need help, before surrendering to God. For example, God may send someone to point out a pride issue in someone, that they've never dealt with, and this person says, "I'm not proud; I'm as humble as Christ is." This is not faith, as rather denial of the truth, what God is saying about their hearts. For this reason, this person will never change, and the Word won't transform them. However, if and when this person surrenders to God and He shows them that for sure they're proud, and they surrender to God to allow Him to work on their hearts, then they can start believing that God is working on them, and consequently confess humility. I've seen people struggle with unbelief, and still confess faith, and when the thing they're believing for doesn't happen they wonder why; it's because they didn’t allow God to work on their unbelief as the Father of the epileptic boy did:

Mark 9:23-24

Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

He admitted that he was in unbelief, and needed God's help. I'm sure after this he moved to believing. If you're struggling with unbelief, surrender to God and let Him show you how to deal with it. If you're dealing with any other problem, surrender to God and let Him help you with it, so that you can walk in faith and life He wants you to live. Once His Word has dealt with the issue, making our hearts good (which is a continuous process), then the fruit will be good:

Matthew 12:33-35

"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit."

Only God, by His Word, can make the tree (your heart) good, so that the new you can be seen. Heart-work is not a one-time event, but rather a life-time event, as our souls will always need work and salvation, until Jesus comes (Heb. 10:39, Jam. 1:21). This is why we need to give place to the Word of God in humility all the days of our lives, and keep surrendering to Him, to keep our hearts in check. 

James 4:7-10

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded... Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

1 John 3:2-3

Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

It is my prayer that you will always walk in sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, Who'll keep revealing to you the condition of your heart, so that you may keep allowing the Word of God to transform your heart, to be a fruitful tree, sanctified from the roots. 

Grace and peace to you!

    Sam Gitonga

Sunday Service Teaching, Transformation Ministry, Ruiru. 


Brother Sam is the Youth Leader at Teaching Transformation Ministry. We are located along the Thika-Ruai Flyover Junction (at the Thika Rd./ Bypass intersection), Next to Eastgate Restaurant.