Your Heart Is Not Your Enemy
Learning To Live From What Christ Has Made New
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you.” — Ezekiel 36:26
“The heart is deceitful above all things…”
We sure do love quoting that verse in church circles.
But rarely do we stop and ask why.
Does it explain the inconsistency we see in ourselves? Does it give us permission to expect failure and brokenness as our deepest reality?
Because Scripture does not stop there.
God also says later:
“I will give them a heart to know Me…”
And again:
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you.”
That is New Covenant language.
Not future promise alone.
Present reality in Christ.
What Christ Has Already Made New
Through Christ, God has not simply improved the old heart.
He has made us new.
New creations.
His children.
People in whom His Spirit now dwells.
Too many believers continue living as though corruption and separation are still the truest things about them.
But the New Covenant speaks differently.
Your heart is no longer your enemy.
The Difference Between Deceived And Deceitful
Can your heart still be deceived?
Yes.
But being deceived is not the same thing as being deceit itself.
The deceiver still lies. The flesh still pulls against the Spirit. Scripture is honest about that tension.
Paul writes in Galatians that the flesh wars against the Spirit.
But flesh is not the deepest truth about you.
Christ in you is.
Living From What Is Now True
People live differently depending on what they believe their deepest identity to be.
If you believe corruption is your truest reality, you will constantly expect defeat.
But if Christ has truly made you new, then His life in you becomes more true than the lies that still try to speak against you.
You begin learning to live from what He has already done instead of from who you once were.
Your heart is not your enemy.
It was created to know Him, receive His love, and reflect His life.
Reflection
What have I believed about my heart?
Do I live more aware of my failures or of Christ within me?
What would change if I trusted what God says is true about me?
Prayer