The Bible calls David 'a man after God's own heart.' That's what I'd like to be.
But the heart is ... without question, the most powerful part of your body. It has flowing in and out of it veins, arteries, ventricles, capillaries - sending and receiving to all parts of the body - yet you never see it. More powerful in many ways even than your brain. If your heart stops, you stop. If you have heart problems, you don’t even always know it until it manifests itself in other parts of your body.
In Scripture, there is a parallel concept. Your spiritual heart - that part of you that accepts or rejects Christ - the part He’s wanting control of --- directs much of what you do here on planet Earth. When someone has a wounded or unclean heart, it shows up in different areas of their life -- areas that aren’t necessarily associated with the heart. It will show up in what we say ... in the way we speak ... in the things we talk about ... by our tone. That doesn’t simply mean we have a speech problem; it’s bigger than that. The Bible is clear. There is a heart problem.
The Bible says a bad heart will manifest itself in what we do ... that doesn't mean we simply have a behavioral problem; it’s bigger than that. There is a heart problem.
We’ve all said things we wish we wouldn't have; done things we wish we wouldn't have --- so we try to combat those things by being more careful in the future about what we say; by being more thoughtful in the future about what we do. We work harder on our speech and actions and we end up treating the symptoms our whole lives rather than the causes --- but God says, "That's not the answer. It's not a matter of what you say or do ... it's a heart problem."
Whatever is in your heart, will come out. Everything is connected to the heart and until we deal with that, nothing will change.
Here's the good news. There is a solution to our heart dilemma (and this is why I stand on a platform every weekend and speak to people - because of this truth) ... Jesus is in the business of changing our hearts. And the change He creates is long-lasting because the change He brings is from the inside out. It doesn’t just impact our behavior and our words, it transforms our hearts.
That’s why David's son, Solomon, said: “Above all else guard your heart, for it is the well spring of life.” (Proverbs 4:23)
And be blessed.