How do we hurt the heart of God?

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”  Isa. 6:5 NIV

Sin is a “me-first” self-pleasing attitude of the heart which denies God’s authority to direct our lives and our world.

Sinful actions such as hatred, jealousy, adultery and blasphemy spring from a heart corrupted by the power of sin.   There are two root sins---one is pride and the other unbelief. 

Pride is evidenced by an attitude which is demanding and arrogant, denies its need for God, and is unteachable, impatient, overly critical of others and hard hearted. 

Unbelief also, is the root of much sin.   If we really believed in God’s goodness, wisdom and love, what motive would remain for not doing things God’s way?

These attitudes hurt the heart of God and often cause insensitivity to others as well; resulting in us saying and doing things that were better not said or done.

Sin always takes more than it gives!  Whatever you gain by compromise you will eventually lose.   Sin is the deadly human condition which opens the door to oppression and God’s displeasure and judgment.

Sin definitely creates a barrier to true communication with God.  He loves us and wants us to overcome sin.   He knows we are powerless to do it by ourselves, and for this reason He has given us the Holy Spirit and His Word as divine resources in our warfare against sin.

What does your mind dwell upon?

Romans 8:5 says, “Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires”. (NIV)  To overcome sin we must have a deliberate effort to set our mind on the “things of the Spirit”.  

The things of the Spirit include the presence of God, the love of God, the fruit of the Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit, and the Word of God. 

The things of the flesh which we are not to set our mind on include any kind of lust, selfish ambition, greed, envy, jealousy, hatred, bitterness, lying, and/or pride.   We cannot avoid these thoughts on our own.  We must instead actively and diligently seek to set our minds on the things of the Spirit with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Our mind is influenced either by the spirit of the world or by the Spirit of God.  Paul tells us in Romans 8:6, “…..letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death.  But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace”.    God wants us to renew our minds through meditating on His Word.

The peace and happiness we are wanting does not come through the satisfaction of the lusts Satan tempts us to go after.  Rather it comes by focusing our hearts and minds on Jesus and the things of the Spirit.

Why do you think the way we speak is so important?

Does God fulfill the longings of our heart?

On what does this depend?    Obedience!  Our actions have consequences……either good or bad.

“The Lord detests people with crooked hearts,
but he delights in those with integrity”.   Prov. 11:20 NLT

God knows what is in your heart.

As Christians we tend to stay clear from the more obvious sins and keep our bodies and minds under God’s rule, yet sometimes we do not practice that same diligence in bringing our tongue under the Lord’s subjection. 

In what ways do we sin with our lips?

Gossiping, lying, murmuring, complaining, backbiting, slandering, and cursing….etc.   All these are things that we, as followers of Christ, ought not to do!  And it is a BIG deal to the Lord how we use our lips as is evidence by the numerous verses that are found in the Bible concerning this subject.

I pray that as you read this your heart cried out like Isaiah’s did and like mine, “Woe is me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips”.