The heart of the matter is a matter of the heart. We are called by Jesus Christ to take up our crosses and follow Him, but we can do this only if our hearts are dedicated to this mission. It is not enough to commit ourselves to Him one time and then sit back and think, “Ah, I’ve done it! I belong to Jesus! Now I will be holy.” It does not work that way. Yes, we must be born again spiritually, in Christ. But when we are born again, we are spiritual babies who need to be nurtured so we can grow up to be spiritual masters, keeping our eyes upon Jesus and desiring more than anything to grow into His likeness. We must allow Christ to change our hearts.
How do we grow from spiritual infancy to the master level? First, we must realize that our very existence on the earth is for the glory of God. He made everything, and everything belongs to Him. We are His creation, and we live at His pleasure. He knows every detail of our lives! We fulfill our purpose in life when His purpose is fulfilled. There must be a reorientation in the very center of our hearts to the reality that we belong to God alone.
Second, we must nurture a personal and intimate relationship with the Lord. He created us to be in communion with Him, and we cannot claim to have given our hearts to God if we do not seek diligently to communicate with Him and be close to Him. Do we know God experientially? This takes dedication and focus. It requires discipline and the sacrifice of our time through the diligent practice of prayer and meditation on the Word. A further reorientation of the heart must take place so that we properly see that God is our center and that He desires to be in constant communication with us – as He is with the rest of His creation. When we experience the knowledge of God, we will be filled with joy and thankfulness!
Third, dying to our flesh must become second nature to us so the Holy Spirit can fill us and fully live through us. Are our thoughts – even our best ones - blocking God’s plans? None of our fleshly attributes should hinder the work of the Holy Spirit in us. The only way to avoid this is to completely die to our flesh. We must practice, practice, practice this so that there is less of us and more of Him – ultimately, we want to have none of us and all of Him! Our goal is to have no feelings, emotions, or thoughts that do not come from God. We must continually cleanse our hearts by repenting to God of every impure thought, word and deed. If our hearts truly desire for God to fulfill His purpose through us, then we must learn to block all evil thoughts the instant they intrude, never allowing them to gain a foothold, lest they take up residence within us and grow into full-blown sin. In order to accomplish this, we must be on the alert, for we know our enemy Satan is ready and waiting to strike when we let down our guard.
Fourth, it is imperative that we obey God’s ways. Here again, our hearts come into play. Do we want to follow God with our whole heart? If we do, then we must be seekers of God, seekers of His Truth. Where do we find God’s Truth? We find it in His Word. We must hunger for the Word, asking God to increase our hunger and give us an insatiable appetite for the Bible – for through the Bible we can know God more and more, learn His ways, and transform our hearts to conform more and more to our Lord Jesus Christ. Our spirituality will be opened up by a thorough knowledge of the Bible. We must immerse ourselves in God’s Word, savoring every morsel, experiencing the Scriptures in our hearts and minds as they were lived by the real people in the actual places retold in the pages of our Bibles. We must explore the Bible as the treasure it is, examining it from all sides, holding it up to the light, looking at it from every angle. We must study it historically, linguistically, and spiritually, making it jump to life for us so we can see it as it really happened! We must ask the Holy Spirit to help us perceive the spiritual principles woven throughout the Scriptures so that we can meditate on God’s ways and put into practice God’s wisdom on how to live our lives. As we prayerfully do this, God will reveal more and more of Himself to us, and we will grow closer and closer to our Lord.
Finally, we must have a desperate heart and a deep desire for the power of the Holy Spirit. As our perception of the spiritual dimension of our world becomes clearer, we realize that the spiritual battle is fierce. How can we cope with our reality unless we are empowered by the Holy Spirit? We must put on the full armor of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit if we expect to engage in the battle and be victorious. The more we understand about our Creator, the more we realize our absolute weakness and desperate need for the Holy Spirit.
Growing up spiritually is not something that happens automatically. It is not as simple as following a formula or thinking through an academic exercise. It is a lifestyle that involves ongoing dedication to knowing God through continuous conversation with Him, immersion in His Word, dying to our flesh, vigilant protection of our hearts and minds through blocking evil thoughts, and a deep desire for the power of the Holy Spirit. Becoming a spiritual master requires a reorientation of our hearts toward God, recognizing and acknowledging who He is and humbly bowing down before Him. This is actualized when we wholeheartedly dedicate our lives to knowing, serving, worshipping and glorifying Him. Only then can we truly embody the gospel!
The core of Christian discipline is training our hearts. Our hearts are fragmented, and we must train them through prayer and meditation to focus on God. Only when all of the pieces of our hearts are focused upon Jesus will we find Him, for ultimately, the heart of the matter is a matter of the heart.
