How many of you can honestly say that you can put on compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience with ease? I bet that most of us will honestly say that it’s never easy.
Last Wednesday I lined up at my bank to deposit a check at my local bank to find out that there was a nation-wide system problem which slowed down everything. I waited 2 hours in line only to have my check cancelled because of an error. The teller was being as cranky and frustrated and I have to admit I wasn’t being very nice. I just hope that teller wasn’t attending my church (or at least forgot what I looked like). That whole experience was a struggle with compassion, patience, humility and kindness, and it’s only one of the dozens of times I struggle with them on a weekly basis.
Is it truly possible to live a life that exhudes with joy, peace, patience, kindness and every facet of the fruit of the Holy Spirit? The Bible tells us confidently many times that we surely can. But how do we live lives that honor God and reflect Christ best?
Ezekiel 36:26 tells us, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”
The only way we can live lives that honor God is if we put our lives in God’s hands instead of our own. As He promised in Ezekiel, God himself will remove our hearts hardened by sin, and will also give us a new heart of flesh.
The Power of a New Heart
One of the toys I loved playing with growing up were Tamiya race cars. The first ones I bought came with China batteries and because that was all I was willing to pay for, my cars were always slower than others. But then my friends introduced me to a miracle- Energizer batteries. When I put them on my toy race cars, all of a sudden, they were super charged.
You know what? God wants to take out that cheap, china-made (no offense meant if you’re Chinese.), sinful heart of yours and replace it with a super charged Energizer heart of flesh. When that happens, you just burst out with energy just not for yourself but for others.
All of a sudden you just can’t help but share that super charged experience with Jesus to others. You start becoming generous, you love your spouse more, you serve your boss and clients better, you start sharing the gospel and discipling other people.
But when we put on a new super charged Energizer heart given through Christ, you are removed of the old, cheap, generic Christian mantra and you now become spirit-empowered witnesses.
If you’re doing anything else apart from a heart super charged by the putting off of sin and putting on of Christ, then chances are you are dangerously running on the steam of self-sufficiency. But when we put on a new super charged Energizer heart given through Christ, you are removed of the old, cheap, generic Christian mantra and you now become spirit-empowered witnesses.
A super charged heart leads to a lifestyle of positive influence. We are all influential in some way or another and that’s the way life works. You influence people around you, but the question remains is what kind of influence you put out. A heart super charged with Christ will lead to good and positive influence. When Christ is in your heart, you cannot be a bad influence. That super charge comes only from one source- Jesus Christ. That’s why it’s crucial, necessary to know our position in Him.
