"18 But the things that come out of a person's mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander." Matthew 15:18-19
Recently, I have been reading a series called "The Gospel Centered Life." It has tremendously uplifted my spiritual life, as it has challenged me to consider how am I putting the Gospel at the center of my life. One of the ideas is that what we normally consider "sins" are actually just surface sins of a deeper heart issue. Whether its drunkness, gossip, adultery, pornography, lying, all of these "surface sins" are the result of a misaligned life.
In the passage above, Jesus is trying to help the Pharisees grasp this concept that unless you get to the heart of the issue, no matter how much covering up you do of these surface sins they will spring back.
This past weekend I spent the day pulling up weeds in the yard. I realized that unless I dug deep and got down to their roots, this pesky little weeds would just grow back in a matter of time. But digging into the roots takes time, effort, and the right tools. Which is even more true for our spiritual lives.
So what areas of sin are you struggling in? What might be at the heart of the issue? How might you replace that deep need with the Gospel? Who is someone that could help you?
~~~~~~~~~~~
Rev. Wes Barry
Associate Pastor for Evangelism and Administration
No comments:
Post a Comment