Hearts & Actions

“But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.” (Matthew 15:18–20, ESV)

A Possible Question

In last Monday’s post, I wrote about Paul’s admonition to look beyond the external actions to the heart when we disagree over issues that are not central to the Christian faith. I repeated the phrase “Pursue hearts seeking God.” 

Yet, that phrase could be misleading. It is possible to read that statement and think the heart and  external actions are disconnected. Someone could think I was saying the Christian faith is ONLY about the heart and not about the externals, which was not my point—and which is not true. 

Our Heart & Our Actions

Jesus explicitly connects our heart with our actions. In the passage at the beginning of this post, Jesus says that the words that come out of our mouth originate in our heart. So our hearts affect the way we talk. 

But our heart affects more than our speech, it affects the way we act. Jesus says that murder and adultery and theft all come from the heart. These are explicit actions. These are external things, yet they originate inside us—in our heart. Our heart and our actions are connected. 

Changing Actions

This is practical and relevant in our current situation. There is a lot of talk about changing the way people act. Yet, there is very little talk about changing people’s hearts. You CANNOT truly change someone’s actions—at least long term—without their heart being changed.

We know this to be true. Think about parenting children. You can change a child’s actions in the short-term through threats and guilt. However, threats and guilt don’t work very long. As soon as the threat and guilt wear off, the child will go back to doing the same things. Why? Because their heart wasn’t changed. 

This doesn’t change as we mature from children into adults. There’s a reason the first step of AA is, “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.” This step is not motivated by threat or guilt, but a change of the heart. So, for the addict who wants to change their addictive actions, they first need a heart change. Then, as their heart is changed, the actions will eventually follow. 

True Of Us All

This isn’t just true of children and addicts, it’s true of every one of us. Our actions will not change unless our hearts are changed. This is a powerful and liberating truth. It’s also tough to swallow. 

It’s difficult because we’re forced to ask, “Can I change my heart?” And, when we’re honest with ourselves, we know the answer is “No.” It doesn’t matter how hard we try, we cannot change our heart. We cannot do it. 

For some, this brings them to a place of hopelessness. If they can’t change their own heart, then they can’t change their own actions. They’re stuck in their destructive patterns. 

God Changes the Heart

Thankfully, we have a God who changes the heart. In Ezekiel, God says, “I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.” (Ezekiel 11:19–20, ESV). God promises to change our hearts. Why is God going to change our hearts? God is going to change our hearts SO THAT our actions would change—so that we would follow Him and obey Him. 

Whenever we need to change our actions, we need to begin by getting on our knees in faith, asking forgiveness, asking for God to change our heart, and repenting of our sin. Then, we get off our knees and move forward in faith, trusting God to forgive us, trusting God to begin changing our heart, and trusting God to give us the strength to follow Him and obey Him.