Renovation of the Heart
Proverbs 4 · Luke 6 · Galatians 4
"Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life."
Proverbs 4:23Think about yourself ten years ago. You're not the same person. Something has been shaping you.
The question is not whether you are being formed.
The question is: formed into what? And by whom?
Three realities from Scripture
Five forces shaping you right now, with or without your permission
If you're not intentionally cooperating with the Spirit's formation of your inner life, you're not avoiding formation. You're just being formed by whatever other forces happen to be present.
Passivity doesn't stop formation. It hands formation over to someone else.
"The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks."
Luke 6:45What comes out of your mouth under pressure isn't a malfunction. It's a revelation.
You don't fix bad fruit by taping good fruit onto a bad tree
The output reveals the source. The heart is where the action is.
You can manage external behavior for a while. But if the heart hasn't changed, the old patterns reassert themselves under pressure.
We like to say "That's not who I really am" after an outburst. Jesus suggests otherwise. Under pressure, the heart reveals itself.
"My little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!"
Galatians 4:19Christian spiritual formation is specifically formation toward Christlikeness. His character, His attitudes, His responses becoming yours.
Internal renovation that produces Christlike behavior naturally
A good tree bearing good fruit
Managing behavior while the heart stays unchanged
Whitewashed tombs
The Pharisees focused on the fruit while the tree remained untransformed.
This week: pay attention to what comes out when you're not managing your image
A flash of irritation, a surge of anxiety, a defensive response
Don't rush to fix it. Just notice.
"What does this reveal about what's in my heart?"
Is there fear? Pride? Old wounds?
"Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life."
Proverbs 4:23You can't cooperate with the Spirit's renovation of something you haven't acknowledged is there.
Next Week: The Six Dimensions of the Human Self