Change on the Inside

Change on the inside produces growth on the outside. Often enough, when we think of sin, we think of it outwardly or in external terms. But just as fruit comes from the tree, behavior is rooted internally. What is in the heart comes out in our thoughts, feelings, and actions. “As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man” (Proverbs 27:19). Whatever the root will reproduce itself as fruit. Good or bad, whatever is on the inside will someday show itself on the outside. “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean’. For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man unclean’ (Mark 7:20-23). Many illnesses, failures, addictions, relationship difficulties, and destructive behaviors originate from these motivators hidden in the heart.

Life without God: Without God we try to find what we lack by searching for fulfillment in ways other than what He would have us do. Worldly success, work, materialism, and sex are some of the ways of trying to find meaning and purpose in life instead of seeking the One who designed and created life. Jesus had this to say about the religious people of his day: “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also?” (Luke 11:39-40). It boils down to the problem of dependency. Sin is failing to depend on God and refusing His grace, forgiveness, and love. Getting our needs met in any other way besides God is idolatry and it never works. When we turn to God for relationship and depend on Him as the source of healing and growth, we put ourselves in a position to receive from Him. For life to work the way God had intended, we have to see God has the source of life.

The hurt is not the sin: The sin is the way the person deals with the pain and the emptiness. When we look beyond the choices made by others of how they sin and begin looking at why they sin, we can begin to see what is motivating and driving the sin. Things can happen to us because of the sin from another person and from sin in the world. Hurt and unresolved issues can turn into bitterness and addictions. Even though we may not have created all of the struggles and pain we might experience, it is our responsibility to turn to God and to receive His healing power and grace.

Repentance is the key: Repentance is the key that unlocks the door to the heart. When we look into the hidden, deep, and dark areas of ourselves and begin to resolve the issues that we find, will result in real, lasting transformation on the outside. If we are ever going to get well, we need the safety to look inside, confess what we find there, grieve it, and repent of it. “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off the old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires, to be made new in the attitude of our minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24). We have been made new from the inside out, and that process begins when we face the truth about the ugly things that are inside. “Putting off the old self” requires change. “Putting on the new self” requires you to grow. What needs changing on the inside? How are you depending on God to help you in your transformation from a life of sin to a life of righteousness and holiness?