Cultivating A True Christian Heart (Pt. 2)

For Part 2 of our series on HOW to cultivate a true Christian heart, let’s begin by addressing the WHY.

WHY do we even need a true Christian heart?

Aren’t our own natural hearts good enough?

Jeremiah 17:9

Jeremiah 17:9 gives us the answer to that question:

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

(Jeremiah 17:9)

As I shared in one blog post, our wicked, natural, carnal hearts thrive in sin and is usually the root source on why we trip and fall into sin.

This is why we as Christians NEED new pure hearts.

Our natural, carnal hearts naturally rebel against God’s will (Romans 8:7), and our only hope is to have a NEW heart.

Step #1 To Having A New Heart

So, how do we have a new heart?

The first step is found in Ezekiel 36:26–

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

(Ezekiel 36:26)

I really like how the CEV and NIRV translations puts this verse this way:

I will take away your stubborn heart and give you a new heart and a desire to be faithful. You will have only pure thoughts,

(Ezekiel 36:26 CEV)

I will give you new hearts. I will give you a new spirit that is faithful to me. I will remove your stubborn hearts from you. I will give you hearts that obey me.

(Ezekiel 36:26 NIRV)

The first step that we see in Ezekiel 36:26 is that we need to LET God remove our old, carnal, wicked, stony hearts and replace our old hearts with new ones.

But how do we let–or allow–God to remove our old hearts and replace them with new hearts?

Revelation 3:20 gives us the answer.

It says:

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

(Revelation 3:20)

What we ultimately need to do in order for us to truly cultivate and have true Christian hearts is to LET Jesus come in to our hearts and do all the necessary heart renovations that He sees for for us.

In other words, we need to SURRENDER our hearts to Christ, and humbly ASK Him to come in and construct His new, pure hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit (more on that later in our series).

A Prayer

I’d like to close out this blog post with a prayer that you may pray to help you begin seeking for Jesus to give you His new, true, pure heart.

This prayer is taken from one of my favorite books, Christ’s Object Lessons page 159:

Lord, take my heart; for I cannot give it. It is Thy property. Keep it pure, for I cannot keep it for Thee. Save me in spite of myself, my weak, unchristlike self. Mold me, fashion me, raise me into a pure and holy atmosphere, where the rich current of Thy love can flow through my soul.

-Christ’s Object Lessons pg. 159

Amen! Maranatha!

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Stay tuned for part 3 of our series, where we’ll dig deeper into how to practically and Biblically cultivate a true Christian heart!