Are there thoughts you repeatedly think, and you want to change those thoughts because you know they’re not good? Are there things you often do, and quite honestly you don’t want to keep doing them? You really do want to change. You want to get better. But you don’t know how to change those thoughts. You don’t know how to change the patterns of your old habits. You don’t know how to change you.

Do you have a behavior within you that you don’t like, but you find yourself acting that way by default? You don’t like being overly competitive and jealous, but you still struggle with certain people being better than you, or their life being better than yours. You don’t like that judgmental and critical side of you, but that side just takes over sometimes. You don’t want to be the nag, the complainer, or the yeller, but there she goes again. It’s you – you’re doing it, and you just can’t seem to stop.

At the root of this is your heart. My friend, this is a heart issue. Proverbs 4:23, “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”

What is your heart? The Bible isn’t talking about the organ that pumps blood throughout your body. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word ‘lev’ was translated into heart. In the New Testament, the Greek word ‘kardia’ was translated into heart. Both lev and kardia have a much deeper meaning than our word ‘heart’ today. They mean the center of your soul. It’s your core deep within you. Your lev, your kardia, encompasses your emotions, your will, your mind and your spirit. It’s who you are within.

So, Proverbs is telling us instead of focusing on the external of our flat belly, our smooth skin, our dyed hair and our plumply injected lips, we are to focus on the core within us, because that is what determines the course of your life. Who you are, what you do, and where you are going is flowing from deep inside of you. Fixing up the outside isn’t going to change you – this is a heart issue.

But honestly, thinking your problems are because of a heart issue is a little scary, isn’t it? You act like that because your heart is off. You think like that because your heart is out of alignment. You do those things because there is a problem in your heart. And nothing is going to change permanently in your life until your heart changes.

But how do you change your heart? The heart wants what the heart wants, right? And if your heart has gotten twisted or hurt somewhere along the way, how do you untwist that? How do you heal that? How does that old hardened heart of stone become a soft, tender heart of flesh again?

Answer: GOD DOES THAT!

What do you do? You seek God, surrender your heart, and ask him to do a work in your heart! Girl, you gotta let him in!

The Lord himself says in Ezekiel 36:26, “I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.”

Here’s the truly amazing thing – God isn’t just offering to fix up your old heart. He’s not offering a bandaid or even a bypass. He’s offering a NEW HEART! A transplant!

God wants to take out that old hardened heart of yours that’s made you jealous and competitive – that old stony heart of yours that’s made you judgmental and critical – that old stubborn heart that makes you want to yell and argue – and he wants to give you a new heart. This new heart from God is tender and responsive. This new heart is soft.

And remember, your heart is what determines the course of your life. So if God is willing to give you a new heart, then he’s offering you a new course for your life. A new direction. A new way. A radically different experience.

This really is a heart issue.

A few years ago, I began praying a very bold prayer almost daily. Here’s the prayer, Psalm 139: 23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”

God, check my heart. What have I allowed to get inside of me that is offensive to you?

Suddenly, I became hyper aware of some really ugly tendencies I had. Tendencies to embellish the story to make it more fun or interesting. Tendencies to exaggerate to be more impressive. Habits of gossip. Habits of twisting the facts to fit my narrative. Patterns of selfishness. Thoughts of superiority. Whew, the truth is, my heart had gotten really ugly while my life looked so magical on the outside. And the crazy thing is, it happened while I was busy trying to walk in my purpose and be a person you would really love.

When I surrender my heart to God for examination on a daily basis, he can show me the little unseen threats that are growing within me. They’re almost like an infection that no one else can see, but they will cause great harm and create damage. And once I see these threats in my heart, I can ask God to give me a new heart where it has grown hard.

I can try and try and try to change myself, but I will continually fall short. I’m not created to change myself – and neither are you. You’re created to need a God who specializes in making old things new again. You’re designed to depend on a God who can do impossible things, and he can do them for you. Not only for you, but IN YOU.

I’m telling you, my sister, whatever you’re struggling within inside, GOD CAN CHANGE THAT! And he will, if you will surrender it to him. He will go to work on that heart of yours and make you new.

Jesus says in Mark 7: 21-23, “From within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. (There it is – isn’t your problem listed in some form there? It’s a heart issue!) Jesus says all these things come from within you – it’s a heart issue.

God, I need a new heart! My heart has gotten twisted. My heart has become hardened. It’s dark in there – it’s cold in there – It’s causing me to be someone I really don’t want to be, and honestly it’s leading me in directions I don’t want my life to go. The trajectory of my heart is not good.

Knowing that God himself says he can give us a new heart, here’s our prayer. Psalm 51:10, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” I want a spirit that won’t give in and give up when tempted. A spirit that holds strong and steady through the storm. And God, I want a pure heart. A heart that isn’t tainted with the nonsense I’ve been struggling with. I can’t fix this on my own, I need you to do a work within me.

And won’t he do it? I’m telling you he can take out that old heart of stone and give you the most pure, soft, responsive heart. You’ll start seeing people differently. You’ll begin noticing things you’ve never noticed before. You’ll be intune with the heart of God. You’ll speak differently. Every choice you make will be impacted by this new heart of flesh offered by God. Why? Because the entire course of your life flows from your heart, and when God gives you a new heart, he gives you a new course! That’s when things change for you.

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