A Change of Heart
Jesus gave us a new heart that wants to do right, and His Spirit to empower us to do it.
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Ezekiel 36:26-27 NIV
Do-It-Yourself Behavior Modification - to change one’s self through the use of one’s own efforts and resources. We all do it. And we achieve some measure of success. But eventually we realize it’s a never-ending self-improvement project. There’s always one more behavior to fix. Some try harder; others give up.
Done-For-You Heart Transformation - a change of one’s heart through the work of God’s own strength and power. He has done it. And it was a complete success. God set us free from fixing ourselves through our own efforts by giving us a tender, responsive heart that wants to do right, and by giving us His Spirit to empower us to do it.
Are you striving to change yourself? Look inside. God has already completed the work for you. Because of His gracious, compassionate, abounding love for you, God sent Jesus to accomplish for you what you could never accomplish on your own. You’ve had a change of heart. Your work is to believe it.
Prayer
Thank you, God, for my new heart. Thank you for putting Your Spirit in me, giving me the desire and the power to do what pleases You.
