“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me …” Psalm 51:10 ESV

Every January, we make our resolutions with the most earnest of intentions. Resolutions to try harder in a specific area of our lives. Sometimes we succeed but more often than not, we don’t.

As the months fade away, so can our determination to do better. And with that can come feelings of defeat. This has been my story many times over and perhaps it is yours, too?

But the Lord showed me, through my own experiences, that true lasting change doesn’t begin on the outside nor will it ever happen in my own strength. It always begins in the heart …

God is the God of the heart …

This broken world we live in is more appearance driven than being genuine from the heart.

King David wrote Psalm 51 after being confronted about his affair with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband to hide his sin.

His words from verse 10 might just be the best New Year Resolution prayer we could ever pray:

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me …” Psalm 51:10 ESV.

You might be thinking right now: “How does this apply to me? I’ve always been faithful to my spouse! And I don’t lie, lust, steal or bow down to idols.“

I’ve said those same words myself! But true to Jesus, He will pierce through all our smoke and mirrors by going straight for our hearts …

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches us that holding anger in our hearts towards our brother is equal to murder. Matthew 5:21-22 NIV.

Likewise, to lust after someone is to commit adultery with them in our hearts. Matthew 5:27-28 NIV

The little white lies we tell to spare someone’s feelings? They are innocent enough, right? But to God, a lie is a lie. It is dishonesty and He detests lying lips. Proverbs 12:22 NIV.

How about stealing? We may not be in the practice of robbing banks but do we scheme within our hearts to take something that is not ours to take. For example: lying on our taxes, flirting with someone’s husband, scrolling the internet on company time or taking office supplies without permission.

And this one was convicting for me …  we may think our hands are clean because we’ve heeded the Bible’s warnings about worshipping unliving man made idols instead of our living Creator, GOD.  

But the truth is: an idol goes way beyond the obvious carved wood, stone or golden image. It is anything or anyone that we put before God. God showed me that my people pleasing habits may appear like humility to people but it was idol worshipping to Him.

Jesus is more concerned with the health of our hearts than how well we practice behavior management in front of other human beings.

Our meticulous landscaping efforts on the outside mean nothing if there is darkness lurking behind our closed curtains and locked doors.

This world tends to rack and stack sins and this deceptive practice puts us in the extremely dangerous posture of self righteousness.

When we measure our ‘self perceived’ little sins against the colossal SINS of those people we deem undeserving of our mercy, it’s as if we’re imagining ourselves standing on a higher hill than them. This is a ploy from the enemy to blind us to our own need for God’s mercy and forgiveness.  

Jesus doesn’t play favorites and the ground is level at the foot of His Cross …

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23 NIV.

This broken world currently seeks a false security and absolution from any and all personal responsibility by hiding behind smoke and mirrors. Just keep it nice and shiny on the outside and no one needs to know what’s really happening on the inside …

But God desires for no one to perish!

When I surrendered to God, I was “born again.” God took me out of the shadows and brought me into His marvelous light. His Heavenly flashlight exposed every dark, hidden pocket in my heart and convicted me of all my motives and intentions.

At first this was frightening because I expected pain and rejection to follow but it never did. That’s because Satan was and is our accuser, not God.

The enemy focuses on our behavior to condemn our identity. But God focuses on our identity (we are all lovingly created in His image) and He convicts us of behavior that hurts or cripples us so He can bring healing and restoration to our lives.

There’s a huge difference between Satan’s condemnation and God’s convictions and it’s vital to know the difference. When we understand this, we will feel free to step into God’s healing light. We will not be afraid to ask Him to give us a clean heart. 

God wants us to come to Him just as we are, no smoke and mirrors. He has so much mercy for where we’ve been in life and desires to heal us of crippling behavior.

God is not interested in behavior management. He wants to completely transform us from the inside out. But we have to do our part by surrendering, trusting, yielding and cooperating with His Holy Spirit within us.

I wish I had trusted more and wrestled less through the years because I would have experienced healing and freedom much quicker than I did.

As born again Believers, we do not serve the spirit of fear. And in this new year, I want to grow bolder in my faith and I know it will require a radical heart change.

David made mistakes just like we do but he loved God so much, that he was grieved when his sins hurt God’s heart. Stewarding God’s heart was David’s motivation to not participate in habitual sin. It was never just to make himself appear bright and shiny to the world, but he kept himself continuously swept clean and pure on the inside for his God

No matter how bad these past few years have been for us, it is empowering when we can give God permission to shine His light of Truth on the part we play in shaping our own lives.

Father God, thank you SO much for Your kindness and Your gift of this brand new year! Lord, take away our hearts of stone and give us YOUR heart, Lord Jesus! Restore to us the joy of Your salvation and grant us a willing spirit, to sustain us. (Ps 51:12) Please call our attention to anything that will get in the way of drawing closer to You this year. Help us to fulfill Your will and purpose for our lives right now in this generation that we live in. It is in Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Hugs and Prayers,

“Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God, and Renew a Right Spirit Within Me” | Psalm 51:10 @ freshgracefortoday.com

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