to be. But that is not who God created you to be.Finally brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things. –Philippians 4:8
Instead, we are called to embody the words in Philippians 4:8. Yes, I know. When you’ve been the opposite of all these things for a long time, it’s hard to imagine you can ever be someone who is described as lovely, noble, virtuous, or pure. And if you do have hope, you wonder how people will react at the complete 180 in your personality. From anger to peace; from accusations to compliments; from fear to confidence; from depression to joy.
That is not who God creeted you to be...
will give you a new heart and a put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of a stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and you will keep My judgments and do them. –Ezekiel 36:26-27
That is the beauty of serving a living God and the Creator of the universe – He can transform us. He can take a heart of stone and make it soft again. Taken at its simplest, flesh is soft and vulnerable. Flesh feels pain, and yet it also basks in the warmth of sunshine.
That is the heart God wants to give you – a heart that feels, flourishes, and gives.
A good [wo]man out of the good treasure of [her] heart brings forth good; and an evil [wo]man out of the evil treasure of [her] heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart [her] mouth speaks. –Luke 6:45
It’s a heart thing. The way you interact with others – the words you use to either build someone up or tear them down depend on the status of your heart. Evil thoughts, adulteries, fornication, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness all take root inside a woman before they manifest themselves on the outside (Mark 7:20-23). The bad news then is that with such deep roots, it takes a lot of work to change things. But the good news is that we serve a living God who can replace hearts of stone with hearts of flesh.I can testify to this. For years, God has been cultivating the soil of my heart to make it soft and vulnerable again. To take away the worry and fears that often caused me to lash out. To humble me to keep my mouth shut when someone does little things that annoy me. To choose to phrase something as
and fears that often caused me to lash out. To humble me to keep my mouth shut when someone does little things that annoy me. To choose to phrase something as a “do” instead of a “don’t.” To communicate through issues with kindness and vulnerability, instead of accusations and anger. To forgive and to ask for forgiveness quickly. To compliment and encourage, not to try to fix people or shine a light on their mistakes and weaknesses. To not always have the last word and to freely admit when I’m wrong.Because even when God gives you that new heart of flesh, it still takes work to keep it soft. It is difficult and humbling work that requires a lot of discipline, love, and divine help. I still spend a lot of time on my knees in prayer so that God will continue to mold my heart to reflect His love. I pray for His strength and vulnerability. There are too many times I fail (in fact, days after I wrote this post, I had the worst few days practicing this out in real life!). But there are also more victories than there were even two years ago.