So, you can see above that all change must begin in the core of the heart. Everything else pours out of our thoughts, beliefs, and desires. If our thoughts, beliefs, and desires are not Gospel-centered, our attitudes, motives, emotions, and behaviors will not be godly.
God’s Word says that we cannot trust our own hearts. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” This is why we cannot help someone by simply offering a new behavior modification idea, or telling them how they should or shouldn’t be feeling, or what their motives should be or that they need to change their attitude. Those things can be changed in our own strength for a short period of time, but there will be no lasting change until we get to the core — our thoughts, beliefs, and desires.
Our thoughts are how we spend our thought life. Are our thoughts centered on this “checklist” of sorts found in Philippians 4:8?
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8)
Or are we thinking thoughts that deny God’s sovereignty, or deny the Truths of the Gospel and are full of the fleshly worries, fears, and anxieties?
Our beliefs are what we believe about God and His Word. Our theology and doctrine matter. If we are in error, our beliefs will eventually pour in to our attitudes or behaviors, emotions and motives. Again, we must be rooted in the Gospel and we must think Biblically.
Our desires are simply what we want. Do we want God’s will or our own? Do we want self-centered things in life, or do we want to be others-centered? Is there idolatry in our lives, or are we applying Ephesians 4:22-24?
“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
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Romans 15:4 (New International Version, ©2011) "For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope".
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