Skip to main content

Deceptive Hearts

             The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” (Jeremiah 17:9-10)

Shakespeare wrote, “How do I love thee, let me count the ways.” When it comes to our hearts (AKA: wills), we can replace the word love with deceive. I doubt I’ll come close to an exhaustive or comprehensive list, but here we go…

You’re good enough. (Or not good enough.)

You’re better than _______. (Or worse than.)

You’ve worked hard.

You deserve it.

You can handle it.

It’s been a hard day.

Everyone else…

            You’re a good person, therefore, what you want must be OK.

            No one will know - or care.

            You’re too ___________.

            If you do, everyone will say _________. (Whether good or bad things.)

            You need it.

            If you love ________, you’ll ___________.

            If you’re a good Christian/person, you’ll _____________.

            It’s your right, or your responsibility.

            You don’t have enough __________.

            You’re fighting for (truth, right, freedom, etc.)

            God understands (Yes, He does, but that’s not the point.)

            You’re a … winner, loser, freak, prize…

            If you had enough ________, you would not have this problem.

            I can’t live without _________.

            It’s my … body, life,…

            We lie to ourselves, and are deceived by ourselves, and we do such a good job that we believe what we’re told. Of course, when we want to be deceived, it doesn’t take much. And once we buy into the lies, we’re not going to welcome any ideas that run counter to them.

            In The Truth Project, Del Tacket often spoke about really believing what we say we believe. We all know the good Sunday School answers, but are we living by them? Or so we believe we are - or would if only it weren’t so hard. And it is hard. Part of the problem is that we don’t tend to believe what we say we believe. Or, sometimes, the issue is that we believe something that doesn’t work well within the worldview we claim we believe. A worldview is just the way we see things. A lot of it is subconscious. A somewhat silly example that 24-33% (depending on denomination) of people who claim to be Christians also believe in astrology. Some 74% of people who claim to be Christians believe in evolution. About 20% of those claiming to be Christians don’t believe in the God described in the Bible.

            Of course, those aren’t quite as personal as the things listed above - but the idea is the same. When we try to connect both what is and what is not Scriptural to our lives, it’s like adding a hand where it doesn’t belong, or a nose to the middle of our backs. It interferes with our ability to function as we’re supposed to. We may think they’re innocent or harmless, but ultimately, we’ll end up amputating one of the “hands” or “noses,” and chances are good that the one we’ll amputate is the one that God gave us, not the one we grafted on.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen!

  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5)            Do you like roller coasters? I don't. You spend forever climbing a hill. You get to the top and have half a second, then you race down to a low point. Sometimes the racing down involves tying your insides into knots. At the bottom, you either have to be dragged up another hill or you get off the ride. Peter's life was a roller coaster from the time he met Jesus. There would be miracles, and then Jesus would teach things that didn't always make sense, and then they'd go out and perform miracles, and return to be taught. Peter was praised for giving the right answer to "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus said that said answer came from God. Peter was at the top of the hill.            ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prayer Lists

                 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (I Peter 2:2-3)   In connection with what I wrote yesterday about the possibility that I’m wrong, I’m feeling the need to go back to basics - craving spiritual milk because somehow, I missed something. It’s a little embarrassing, craving milk like a newborn, but the truth probably is that we are newborns many times in many ways in our lives. From God’s perspective, we may never be anything more than newborns, forever needing that milk. On the other hand, being a newborn can also be exciting because so much is new. My mind is playing pinball - ricocheting from one idea to the next and through six more before it happens to hit the third again. The main topic is prayer. I have at least seven organizing structures all somewhat influenced by the movie War Room , which I’v...
Post a Comment
Read more