What Is in Your Heart?

We tend to judge people, events, and actions by what we can see on the outside, and many people put their best foot forward in outward behavior. Jesus asks us to look deeper. When the Pharisees criticized His disciples for not washing their hands and cups according to tradition, He answered that nothing outside a person defiles them. What defiles is what comes out of the heart (Mark 7:14-23). Our actions begin in our thoughts and minds. Sinful actions, corrupt behavior, and irreverent conduct are the visible fruit of what is inside. "All these evil things come from within, and defile the man" (Mark 7:23).

So the question is, what is in your heart? Religious routine and outward polish cannot produce good fruit from a corrupted source, and no amount of resolutions alone can fix a heart that has not been changed. Only Christ can make the difference. Good fruit comes from a heart cleansed by His blood and led by His Spirit. As Christ's ambassadors, we represent Him first by who we are inside, and the outside follows. David's prayer is the right place to begin: "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10). Ask Him to search your heart today and to clean what you cannot.