My husband, Ken, thinks I have a great heart. Oh yeah?
Hi, this is Joni Eareckson Tada and you know my husband, Ken, says that a lot when talking about people he loves or respects. He says that of Pete, his best friend, “You know,” he’ll say, “Pete has a really great heart.” Or he’ll say… “Man, I love that man’s heart.” Now… I know what Ken is trying to get across, but I don’t think Pete or I have a great heart. True, God has replaced our hearts of stone with hearts of flesh, Ezekiel 11 says that, and it’s a very good thing, but basically, the heart is the very root of our true self and the core of its meaning is our motivations. And all too often, I am sorry to say, my heart has me wanting and desiring all the wrong things. I want comfort, I want pleasure, I want control, I want people to understand me, I want, want, want. By nature, the human heart is selfish – it doesn’t want God setting limits or providing direction.
Now, I know what you’re thinking: you’re probably reasoning that if God gives us a new heart when we become a Christian, then it’s fine. Our heart is okay. W-e-e-l-l… not exactly. When an acorn sprouts on a tree, it doesn’t mean you can pick that acorn and saw it up for lumber, right? When a city passes a clean water act, it doesn’t mean that the next day you can go out and drink from the river that runs through town. No, it takes time for an acorn to grow into a tree used for lumber; it takes time for a law to go into effect until the water in a river gets cleaned up. And the same is true when God transforms our hearts from stone to flesh. When changed by the Lord, the heart’s selfish motives are not erased overnight; they are gradually replaced by a desire to love God and live for Him. This is why you and I still struggle with sin. When you indulge in sin, your heart cannot be filled with God's love, or filled with the Holy Spirit, I should say.
In short, the heart is the seat of all our motives, and often those motives are hard to understand and hard to see. But sometimes our heart motives aren’t hidden – they rise to the surface, especially when we are hurting or going through a difficult trial. Our heart cries out, “God, how could you allow this to happen to me?”
Well, the real question, the real point is, would you like to have a good heart, as my husband calls it? Proverbs 4 tells us that the heart is the wellspring of life; it is the root that determines whether the fruit of the tree will be good or bad and I have a feeling you truly want good fruit growing on your tree and I’d like to help you in your journey. That’s why I have been so blessed by a little booklet called “Motives: Why We Do the Things We Do?” written by Dr. Edward Welch, connected with Westminster Theological Seminary. This booklet will help you not only pinpoint the motives of your heart, but it will give you practical steps you can take in partnering with the Holy Spirit to enact change in your motives… to bring about a real transformation of your heart… a heart in which selfishness no longer reigns, but love for God and an ambition to please Him, that would be your primary motive for all that you do, right? Then you know you’ll be growing, friend. You’re growing good fruit. You’ll know that your wellspring is truly a river of living water flowing out to others in a stream of encouragement.
You can get a copy of Dr. Welch’s booklet on motives by simply going online to my radio webpage at joniandfriendsradio.org to get your own free copy. Again, that’s joniandfriendsradio.org or you can always call our toll-free number at 888-522-5664.
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