Heart Chart

We Are A Broken Person

We have desires that are not pleasing to the Lord. These desires lead us to actions that can send us on a trail that leads to destruction.

13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

The way we can identify the path we are on are the symptoms that cause us pain.

Symptoms

When people are struggling in life, they often view their symptoms as the cause of their misery. These are not the cause of your misery, but symptoms that are manifested from the true cause of your misery. These are things like marital issues, bankruptcy, emotional crisis, pornography, and alcoholism. These are all just symptoms of much deeper issues. We all have symptoms in our lives that cause us pain.

If we treat the symptom without getting to the cause, it is like putting a band-aid on a deeper wound. For example, let’s say that a person is running a 103 degree temperature. Our tendency would be to give them some Tylenol to reduce the fever. The true cause of our fever is a severe viral infection that if left untreated will lead to our death. We must discover the true cause of our sickness and not just treat the symptom.

So where do we find the true sickness? It is found in our heart.

17 Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is [h]eliminated? 18 But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, [i]fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. 20 These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”

We have corrupt hearts that hurt.

Hurt of the heart

We live in a world of fallen people. Because of this we are wounded. When we are wounded, it inhibits our ability to think rationally. When we are wounded we think more emotionally. Thinking emotionally is not rational. When you think emotionally you begin to make a series of irrational decisions that will end up hurting you deeper.

What happens when you begin to make irrational decisions is that the hurt just goes deeper and you turn to those symptoms as a means to alleviate the pain.

Unfortunately, when you get to this point you see yourself as a victim. The reason you are the way you are is because of what someone else did to you. This is an irrational decision. The rational decision is to own your way of dealing with the symptoms in your life rather than pointing the blame to someone else. So how do you do this?

Discover the Sin Inside You.

Let’s go back to the origin of sin to see where it is rooted. God made Adam and Eve perfect. He put them in a perfect environment. They were in perfect relationship with one another and with God. Then this happened:

Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from [a]any tree of the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” 4 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! 5 For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves [b]loin coverings.

God had arranged a perfect creation. Satan came and deceived Eve into believing that God did not have their best interest at heart. He convinced them that God was withholding something from them that would make them better. This was the ability to know good and evil. Evil was not part of creation at this point. What is interesting is they got what they were looking for, but it did not satisfy what Satan promised it would bring them. Now that they had disobeyed God, their relationship with God was broken. This is the origin of sin.

The first thing they did after sinning is to try and fix the situation themselves. They sewed fig leaves together to cover their shame. Unfortunately, this is what many Christians try to do today. They try to reform their behavior, rather than letting God transform them.

So let’s look at the 7 deadly sins that we try to fix.

Seven deadly sins

1. Anger - The self- focus of believing that one has been wronged and needs to get even.

26 Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and do not give the devil [a]an opportunity. Eph. 4:26-27

2. Lust - Believing that one is free to have sexual pleasure in any form outside the boundaries of God’s creative purposes.

For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality;

3. Greed - The belief that one needs to accumulate more for oneself.

11 Not that I speak [a]from want, for I have learned to be [b]content in whatever circumstances I am. 12 I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.

4. Envy - belief that one cannot celebrate anyone else’s ability, triumphs, or accomplishments because it either exceeds or was not their own

for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?

5. Sloth- Belief that one does not have to be responsible for oneself, which often leads to self-hatred and depression.

6. Appetite - the self-focused believe that one needs to feed an appetite that is never satisfied.

3 But [s]seek first [t]His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be [u]added to you.

6. Pride - The belief that one is the center of the world and needs to exercise power and control.

world and needs to exercise power and control

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

When you try to fix your sin problem with prescribed obedience you will create stress in your life

Stress

When we try to fix something that God never intended for us to fix, we create stress in our soul. This stress causes pain in the heart because we are not able to fix the problem. In order to get rid of the problem we revert back to the symptom.

As you can see this will lead to addiction. Addiction is not just to drugs and alcohol, but to the symptoms that we revert back to to alleviate the pain. This is a vicious cycle that leads to a death spiral. So what are we to do?

Delivered

If I can’t fix myself and no one else can, what am I to do? Jesus heals!

21 I find then the [n]principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully concur with the law of God [o]in the inner man, 23 but I see a different law in [p]the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner [q]of the law of sin which is in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from [r]the body of this death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.

Jesus heals us by changing our hearts. He sent his Holy Spirit, so that we can be conformed into his image.

29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;

He conforms us into the image of his Son by the power of the Holy Spirit. We must surrender our sin to the Holy Spirit. When we do this, He gives us a new heart. This is healing. How can you know you are healed? The hurt of the heart is no longer there and your symptoms go away.

The biggest question is do you want to get well?