Evil Begins in the Heart – (Proverbs 4:23-27)
Daily Proverbs
Daily Bible Study
The Lord instructs us to keep our hearts pure with all diligence. It's from our heart that wickedness first springs to life, our desires and thoughts first begin there before they ever enter the world as our actions. Straying eyes, a deceitful mouth, envy, hatred, strife and perverse lips all have their origin and their direction from the inspirations of our hearts, because of the desires of our flesh. We have to remember it's not only our actions that God looks at, but the attitude, thoughts and motives behind those actions, which concern God.
As Jesus told us in Matthew's Gospel, "But the things that come out of a person's mouth come from the heart, and these defile them." Our faith is a matter of the heart! In other words, where our heart is in regards to Jesus and who we say He is in our lives determines our faith. Given the fallen nature of man and the fallen world we live in, it requires all diligence to keep our hearts pure, to keep us focused on Christ. For most of us without the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we would be hopelessly lost in the desires of our heart. Therefore, we are to remain steadfast in our faith, trusting in God through Christ and following the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we lead our day to day lives.