by Elder Peter Lim
“A carnal unregenerate mind is not at all worried if it never has time for spiritual thoughts. But a truly spiritually minded soul will mourn when it misses an opportunity for spiritual meditation and is determined to be more watchful in the future.” (John Owen, “Spiritual-mindedness”)
In today’s society, our secular western world is built on the notion that our actions matter more than our hearts and motivations. It teaches us that we are innocent until proven guilty no matter what thoughts are going through our minds. This is understandable in our society because there is no way for anyone to know with absolute certainty what is going on in the minds and hearts of people. Even if that kind of technology was available, our society is built on man-made principles and definitions of right and wrong. Throughout the history of the world, Christianity/Judaism has influenced the world, but today it is not universally accepted as truth, even in matters of morals and ethics. Of course I am not advocating changing our laws here in the U.S. so that we are guilty until we prove ourselves to be innocent. However, what I am saying is that some people project our “innocent until proven guilty” mentality over to the spiritual realm and falsely judge one another by only what we do instead of who we are.
I’m not suggesting that obedient actions are worthless. On the contrary, 1 Samuel 15:22 tells us that obedience to God is better than any sort of religious ritual that lacks heart. However, the heart matters. A man who lusts after a woman is guilty of committing adultery (Matt. 5:28). Matt 15 tells us that the heart is the source of our evil. Christians understand that God is not pleased ONLY with our obedient actions but especially with our hearts. They will understand that the ends do not justify the means but that God is to be honored and glorified at every step, with every breath of our being. There are no areas of life that are exempt from this. A mature Christian will go beyond mere understanding of this truth but will mourn when he sins in his heart or fails to take advantage of every opportunity to honor Him, although he hasn’t actually taken any sinful actions. It’s this heart that loves God and wishes to glorify Him that is the hallmark of a mature Christian. It’s not about crossing over some imaginary line into sin. It’s about hating sin and staying away from it as far as possible. Moreover, it’s about seeking after Him during our free times and meditating on Him. May we all seek to pursue this intimate relationship with God and be satisfied in Him despite any difficult circumstances we may encounter in life.
Hopefully these words sparked some thoughts that causes you to want to think Godly thoughts right now. I leave you with some additional words from the theologian John Owen:
“How can any man set his heart on the things of this world who has taken Christ as his example and pattern of life? How can anyone who claims to live by the power of the cross of Christ set his heart on this world and things of this world?” (John Owen, “Spiritual-mindedness”)