Our Hearts

In part of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus quotes the Law that murder is wrong, and murderers are liable for judgment. But Jesus clarifies that someone, who is angry, or gives insults, as an expression of anger, is equally guilty before the Law.

Jesus quotes the Law that adultery is wrong. But Jesus clarifies that lustful desires are equally wrong.

The last of the Ten Commandments says we should not have wrong desires.

The Bible does not stop with our actions. It moves into our inner life. It includes, and judges, our thinking, emotions, imagination, motives, and will.

The words the Bible uses for "heart" in both the Old and New Testaments encompass all of the above. So, it looks to me like the people of Jesus' day regarded a person's inner core as one unit. And Jesus said that outward actions flow from the inner core. A person goes in a direction that his\her inner core agrees with.

So, part of the transformation process is agreement with God's word with our inner core. If a person knows cognitively that God loves people, and choosing to follow him results in justification of sin, reconciliation to God, and redemption into his family. So, we should share God's Good News with people. But if someone's imagination paint pictures of rejection, of failure, and being foolish, how wholehearted will he be in pursuing it? His inner core is in disagreement.

Scripture says that God's Spirit is stronger than our hearts. It is his business to bring all of the parts of our hearts into alignment.