What is the condition of your heart?

What is the condition of your heart? You know often when we are in the season of waiting we can get stuck on what we don’t have that we forget to look at what we have. Also, as the waiting season extends, we can become bitter, angry, or prideful because of the state of our lives. So today I figured we should look at the condition of your heart. So here are some questions I want you to ask yourself as we delve further.

• How do I feel when I see people who are ‘not godly’ get the things I have been praying for?
• How do I feel when my promise keeps delaying?
• What’s my view of God when He does not answer my prayer?
• Why do I do the things I do?
• What’s the motive behind following God and doing His will?
• Do I feel like God owes me because I have been living right?
• Is my relationship with God transactional or relational?

The reason I am asking these questions is that it is in the answer that you will get to know the condition of your heart. Why do you do the things you do? What is the driving force behind your actions and behavior? You know, we often think that as long as we are keeping the laws and following what God is telling us, then we are good. But I realize that obeying is not enough because what matters most is the condition of your heart and the motivation behind your actions. Now I am not telling you to go around and sin, but what I am simply saying is that it is time for us to experience a heart check and ask ourselves the tough questions.

Why does the condition of your heart matter?

Jesus says that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks and in the book of Proverbs the writer (Solomon) cautioned us to check our hearts because out of it flows the issues of life. In another chapter, Jesus goes ahead to say that evil thought is just as worse as committing it. An example He gave was that lusting over someone is equivalent to committing adultery. What! That’s mind-blowing. So every time you have had an evil thought pop up in your mind and you entertained it you are just as guilty as the one who did the evil deed.

Jesus does not focus on the actions that you do because He is more focused on the why behind your actions. This is because He knows that when you do good things from the heart, you will make it your lifestyle and not simply make it a task that you have to complete. The condition of your heart matters because it is the driving force of your actions.

So what should be the driving force behind our actions?

Jesus tells us to do everything we do in love. Love should be the motive behind it. Whether it’s praying, tithing, fasting, or even just following God’s commandments, let it all be led by love. As Christians, we live to emulate Christ and when we think about it, Jesus did everything out of love. He did not do it because He felt obligated to do it. He did it because He wanted to do it. Even when He healed the sick, raised the dead, or fed the hungry, everything He did stem from a place of love. He died on the cross because He loved us. God gave His Son up because He loved us. He did not do it because He felt He had to. No! He let love lead Him and in so doing, you and I received salvation.

This is the same concept we should have. Do everything in love. Paul tells us that without love, anything we do is useless. It does not matter if it is prophecy, helping the needy, praying or whatever the case may be do it from the place of love. That is why checking the condition of your heart matters. When you realize you lack in the love department, you will know what to do to replenish it.

If I speak in the tongues ^[1] of men and of angels, but have no love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but has not love, I am nothing.3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, ^[2] but have not love, I gain nothing.4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking; it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always persevere.8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part,10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.12 Now we see, but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.13 And now these three remain faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13: 1-13

• Do you have love in your heart?
• Is what you are doing congruent with the love in your heart or are you simply doing it because you want to check a box?

God does not want you to have a transactional relationship with Him. To where you almost feel like He owes you because you have been doing everything right. Unfortunately, this is the posture we embody as Christians. We assume that because we are doing everything right, then God needs to hear our prayers.

Unfortunately, this thinking is wrong. Because it gives the root of bitterness, anger, malice, and resentment. It also gives us a breeding ground when things don’t go as we think they should. And this also hinders us from having a relationship with God. God is just pure and loving and in Him, there is no shadow of shifting. He is light and He can never inhabit where darkness is. And as we all know bitterness is from the devil. Anytime you have negative emotions, you hinder God from moving on your behalf. And also you give the enemy ammunition to wreak havoc in your life. Checking the condition of your heart ensures that you are in the right standing with God. Because your motive will be right and when it’s not, you can correct it.

So let me ask you this: have you been feeling bad because what you have been praying for has yet to manifest? Have you been experiencing jealousy because people around you seem to experience breakthroughs with little to no effort on their end, or so it seems? Have you been feeling like God owes you because of how you have been living your life? Then this could be a sign that you have allowed pride to rule your life. Pride is when you think you are above everyone else because of what you do for God. Pride is very dangerous because it leads to tripping and falling down. One sure thing God tells us is that He shuns the proud and exalts the humble. And maybe you are wondering how these thoughts can result from pride. So let me elaborate.

Anytime you think your actions warrant a reward, you are operating in pride. This is because you are focused on doing and not being. Technically, you forget it is through grace that Jesus saved you and me. And also that we can inherit anything. It has nothing to do with our good works. Did you even notice That Abraham, who was obedient to God, received his promise because of his faith and not his actions? The Syrophoenician woman did not qualify to have her daughter healed, but Jesus healed her anyway because of her faith.

This is exactly what God wants you and me to realize. It is never about our actions. God wants us to experience a transformation from the inside out and not vice versa. Good works should stem from your love for God. And not because you are trying to earn His love and acceptance. God loves you anyway and God wants to reward you, regardless. It has nothing to do with your good work. There is a process that you will go through. But it’s not so that you can qualify because you have already been qualified through the finished work of the cross. That’s the covenant.

Let me explain to you using the Israelites. They were the most rebellious and ungrateful people, yet God always looked out for them. Do you know why He did that? It is because God was keeping the covenant He made with Abraham so it had nothing to do with them. But everything to do with His promise and the fact that He always keeps His promises as He is a faithful God. Let this encourage you to check your heart. See if you have allowed pride to take root in your heart because you think you have been doing things for God. You can earn nothing from God. Again what is the condition of your heart? Have you been acting like the Israelites?

Jesus paid the debt in full. You are debt-free and therefore there is no need to try to earn it. You can only receive it. It might have been a long time since you’ve been waiting. And your promise coming to pass will not be because you did everything right. But because He made you a promise, and He is not a man, He should lie. So instead of going around doing everything, you think you should earn something. Allow God to lead you in love. So that you can do the good works willingly, stemming from a place of being. Religion and culture make you think that you have to do something to get something. The kingdom of God does not work like that.

How then, can you operate from a place of love?

Repent

The first thing you need to repent. Once you have checked the condition of your heart and realized you have error’d, repent. Ask God to forgive you for harboring pride in your heart and thinking that He owes you nothing. He does not. But the good thing is that although He does not owe you anything. He wants to give you the very best. God says that when you repent, He is faithful and just to forgive you. And not only that, He will not remember your sins anymore or hold you in contempt. Just pray a simple prayer in all authenticity and tell God that you are sorry.

After that, ask God to cleanse you of all the emotions and seeds that come with pride. Things like jealousy, resentment, envy, control, anger, and bitterness come from pride. This is because it is when you are prideful that these things arise when things don’t go your way. Let’s say you prayed to get a job because you think you have been doing everything God says to do. So you think you deserve it. But when someone else gets it instead of you, pride will push you to be jealous. Because some questions that will stem in you are why they got it and not you and this can fuel anger and bitterness inside you. That’s why it’s important to ask Jesus to cleanse you of it all. The good news is that the Blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sins and makes us whole.

Replace the old with the new.

The opposite of pride is humility. The condition of your heart will reveal if you have pride inside. And if you do, ask God to help you become humble because His word says that He delights in the humble. One way to do that is to ask Him to give you the fruit of the Holy Spirit. These are love, joy, kindness, etc. When God gives you this, humility will naturally come because when you are led by love, you will not be jealous of someone else’s blessing because you recognize God has something for you that no one else can take from you. Also, patience becomes a virtue in you as you realize God makes everything beautiful in His time, and if it hasn’t happened yet, it is because it’s not time for it.

Something else that will happen is that you get to where you focus on God. The Holy Spirit will always lead us to focus on God and His word is clear that when we seek God, everything else will be added unto us. Seek Him from a place of sincerity and not because you want something from Him. Seek Him because you love Him and want to have a relationship with Him.

Again, it’s important to realize that this will only come through the help of the Holy Spirit. You can do this only by His strength. Delight yourself in God and He will give you the desires of your heart. He knows your desires, and He does not want them to become an idol in your life. That’s why He is telling you to seek Him first because He will sanctify your desires in a way that they don’t become idols in your life.

God is not mean that He will deny you anything, HE only wants you to get to where you are mature in Him such that the blessings don’t destroy you. He cares about your heart and soul and does not want you to get lost.

Embrace the gift of grace.

God wants you to understand that everything has already been paid for and all you need to do is receive it. Jesus paid the price and you are now debt-free so your works are not what qualify you rather it is the finished work of the cross. When you allow yourself to think that it is because of the works that you have received anything, you diminish the finished work of the cross, the suffering that Jesus had to go through, and His resurrection. So sometimes God allows us to experience lack and not have our prayers answered because He wants us to grasp the concept of grace and step in it. There is nothing you can ever do to make God love you any less or any more.

Let this concept flood your mind and get etched deep in your heart. Once you realize this, you will focus on Him and not on things because you know He will never deny you any good thing. All these things He created are for you and I to enjoy. But we can only enjoy them when we allow ourselves to receive His grace and recognize that our good works do not save us and we do not receive things because we earned them by doing everything right. God’s relationship with us is not performance-based. Read the Bible and find scriptures that talk about who you are and who God says He is. And the more you allow His word to wash over you the more confident you become in receiving and embracing His grace and living from that realm.

When you live from the realm of grace, your actions become love-centered and you are never depleted because God replenishes you daily, leaving you with so much more to give. Always remember that you can never pour from an empty cup. It is in His grace that His love becomes revealed to you. You can only give what you have, so the more you receive His love, the more you can give His love.

Conclusion.

Pride comes from a place of lack and limitation and an inferiority complex. For you to get to the place where you think you are better than others, shows that there is a void inside you that God can only fill. Don’t allow yourself to get stuck in condemnation when you find out that you have been harboring pride in yourself, instead just ask for forgiveness and keep it pushing because God is always ready and willing to forgive you. You are never too far from redemption, so just repent and move forward.

Always check the condition of your heart through introspection. Look within and ask yourself the difficult questions, even as you do that, ask the Holy Spirit to show you anytime your heart’s condition is polluted. Him being your helper means He will do so when you ask Him. Always remember that your good works will never save you or earn you the reward you are looking for rather it is the grace of God that will.