The Heart of Christ

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Ephesians 4:22-24

 

What if for one day, Jesus took over your life and lived it for that day? He took your schedule, your job, lived in your home and for twenty-four hours He lived your life as it is right now. What would that be like? At this exact moment, how does that idea make you feel knowing what you know about your own life? You and your heart would have the whole the day off and Jesus would run your household, your actions, and He would direct the decisions that you make for that day. Would people around you notice a difference? Your friends and family, would they see something new in you? What about your enemies? Would they experience forgiveness and love from Christ's heart than they do from yours?

Think of the difference. How great of a change would there be in your life? Would your calendar still look the same? Would your obligations, the places you go and appointments change? Would you rewrite them all to make your day look more suitable to Him?

If Jesus took over your heart, would anything change? We are to have the heart and the mind of Christ. We are to act like Christ. We are to be His reflection.

"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus."

Philippians 2:5

"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

2 Corinthians 3:18

God's plan for you when you accept Christ into your life is to take on a new life, a changed heart, with new priorities.

"to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."

Ephesians 4:23-24

God wants us to be like Jesus and to have a heart like His. One of my favorite authors says, "God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way. He wants you to be just like Jesus." God loves us just as we are but He desires for our hearts to change. He does not want to leave us with our pathetic statements of "Worrying is who I am" or "I'm pessimistic. I've always been that way" because Jesus can change our hearts if we let Him.

Jesus' heart is a heart full of pureness and peace and He refused to be directed by anything other than the calling of His Father. His heart was purposeful where many of us aspire to nothing at all and end up accomplishing just that in our lives. Jesus had one ambition, one priority and that was to save all humanity.

"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

Luke 19:10

Though His purpose was inexpressible in our words, His attitude never reflected its unpleasantness. He still found beauty in His Father's creation, joy in the laughter and smiles of children and the possibilities in the problems of this world. This all reflected His greatest attribute, which was that of His spiritual heart. All He did reflected the intimate relationship He had with His Father. Jesus took all direction and instruction from God and He spent His time in worship, memorizing scripture and in prayer. The hand of His Father, the unseen hand, led him.

I read once the differences between His heart and ours and it looked like this:

"His heart is pure and ours is greedy; His is peaceful, ours is hassled; His is purposeful and ours is distracted. He is pleasant and we are cranky. He is spiritual and we are earthbound." There is such a distinct difference between our heart and the heart of Christ that it is hard to believe that we could ever hope to have a heart like His? Are you ready for the kicker; you already have the heart of Christ. If you are in Christ and have given your life to Christ, you have been given the heart of Christ. Your heart is His home. He has moved in and is ready to change you. The question that remains is; will you let Him?

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

Galatians 2:20

Do you ever wonder why it is that if we have His mind, we still end up thinking so much like ourselves? We trust Him for salvation but resist the transformation? What would happen if we turned it all over to Him and allowed Him control of our lives, which would change our heart? God is willing and able to change us if we accept His invitation. All we have to do is fix our eyes upon Him and the attributes of His heart will become our own.

"Father, may my life reflect You in all I do. May my priorities and my schedule be purposeful and committed to You and the calling You have for my life. May my attitude always honor You and I may always find the true joy in life that comes from having You live within me."