John 14:15 – “If you love me, keep my commandments.”

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, a singular thought kept reverberating in my heart and mind: the heart.  Scripture teaches that the heart, attitude, and motive are more important than the deeds.   That’s not to say acts are unimportant, but they are the fruit of the heart, not the source.  We tend to focus on the visible, but God always goes to the root, the core, or the source.

In Matthew 5, a chapter filled with invaluable life guidance revelations, we confront this reality of the heart vs. the hand (deeds).  Various sectors of religious thought have interpreted Matthew 5:20 to emphasize works, acts, or deeds. While that is included, true righteousness flows from the heart, not the hand.

Jesus addressed angry words and deeds as revealed in the law.   He then went to the root, the heart, the true source.  Anger in the heart is the source of murder and abuse.

He addressed immoral acts in light of the commandments of the law and then went to the source, the heart. Out of the heart, proceed the stimulus for the acts.  We are told to love God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength. That is All Encompassing!

The Church and the world tend to major on Actions and even try to legislate right behavior.  Then, they are frustrated when human behavior does not get better.   If we chop off weeds, they grow back more prolifically; actions are weeds.  If we go to the root, we rid ourselves of the weed problem.  What is the root?  It is the heart.  Until Jesus becomes LORD of the heart, there will be an ongoing problem with deeds.

Dying to self could be rendered, surrendering to Jesus, or being transformed in our hearts and minds.   The core of who we are must be completely yielded to Him.   Our feelings are often weeds, and trying to reform feelings will not result in a transformed heart but a frustrated mind.

If we want to have a righteousness that surpasses the Scribes and Pharisees, we have to have a transformed heart.   Too many only give Jesus their heart, theoretically and religiously, not in reality.  We continue to allow our emotions to produce unwholesome actions rather than our hearts producing the fruit of righteousness that exhibits and expresses the heart and mind of Christ.

It’s the heart, not the hand, which needs to be redeemed!  Acts are evidence of the condition of the heart.  They do not change their heart. They reflect the heart.  What’s in our hearts? Our deeds portray it!

LORD, please transform our hearts so that what is in our hands matches our hearts!