Everyone is born with two hearts. One heart pumps blood around our bodies to keep us alive. The other heart regulates our thoughts and intentions, the deep inner part of “us”, the core, if you like, that cannot be seen but is real and powerful in its effects on us and on others in the world around us.

This may sound somewhat spooky, like some unseen force that drives us from within, but its not that bad! Our “hearts” encompass our thoughts, choices, decisions, and feelings, which reveal everything about us that relates to who we are, and influences the way we show who we are to those around us.

Unfortunately, everyone is born with a birth defect, a diseased “heart”. The diagnosis is ominous and has serious repercussions if we do nothing about our condition.

Jeremiah 17:9 NLT
[9] “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?”

The Bible has a lot to say about this heart. Apart from the diagnosis that every heart is initially rotten to the core, God’s Word helps us to understand what it does, and reveals how this “diseased heart” can be cured and made new.

Romans 1:18-32 gives us a resume of the way the wicked heart functions. What we desire, we do, and what we do reveals what is in the heart. Since the heart we were born with hates God, everything we think and do defies who He is and what He requires of us.

Romans 1:28, 32 NLT
[28] “Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done…
[32] They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.”

Isaiah 64:6 NLT
[6]”We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.”

Now, let’s see what can be done about our wicked hearts. Is there any possibility that we can change? Does God have a cure that will alter the course of our lives from where our evil hearts are taking us?

Thankfully, there is! We can do nothing to change our hearts but God can.

God promised wayward, idol-worshipping, stubborn Israel,

Ezekiel 36:25-27 NLT
[25] “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. [26] And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. [27] And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.”

God promised His people a spiritual and supernatural heart transplant. How would this happen? Not by trying harder but by putting their faith in God’s solution.

Romans 10:6-9 NLT
[6] “But faith’s way of getting right with God says, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven?’ (to bring Christ down to earth). [7] And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead?’ (to bring Christ back to life again).” [8] In fact, it says, “The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.” And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: [9] If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

What is Paul saying? “Don’t try to fathom the mechanisms of God’s salvation. How can Jesus save us by coming to earth and dying? Believe that He did it and confess that He is Lord! If you embrace this truth in your heart, you will become a new you with a transformed heart and life.”

Whew! God’s escape route from the destiny that our evil hearts threatened is faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection. He paid our debt of sin and changed our status before God and the direction of our lives from hell to heaven. Now we are going to Him, not away from Him. Not inly does God forgive our sin but He also changes us from the inside out.

2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT
[17] “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”

However, although God has given us new hearts, we are still capable of following sinful desires, depending on which desires we cultivate. The Holy Spirit in us grows fruit that reveals His life at work in our hearts. At the same time, we are surrounded by temptations from within and without, to follow our old desires.

God has given us the responsibility to feed holy, not selfish desires.

Proverbs 4:11-13, 20-23, 26-27 NLT
[11] “I will teach you wisdom’s ways and lead you in straight paths. [12] When you walk, you won’t be held back; when you run, you won’t stumble. [13] Take hold of my instructions; don’t let them go. Guard them, for they are the key to life….
[20] My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. [21] Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, [22] for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body. [23] Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
[26] Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path…. [27] Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.”

Three simple instructions for preserving the integrity of our hearts.

Feed our hearts with God’s wisdom.
Guard our hearts from unholy desires.
Stay away from evil behaviour.

How do we know what is in our hearts? David asked the Lord to search his heart for any “anxious (disquieting) thoughts” that lurked inside him. “Disquieting” means anything disturbing, that causes uneasiness.

Paul has a solution for “anxious thoughts”…

Philippians 4:6-7 NIV
[6] “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. [7] And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

God’s peace acts as a referee in our hearts to tell us whether our thoughts are anxious or not. Anxious thoughts reveal that we are not trusting God in uncertain circumstances. We allow fear, anxiety, insecurity to cancel our faith, and our loss of God’s peace alerts us to the problem. He restores His peace in our hearts when we confess these toxic thoughts to the Lord.

We need never leave the condition of our hearts to chance. God gives us clear teaching in His Word that He will transplant our hearts when we put our trust in Jesus, and He will transform our hearts as we keep replacing our old sinful thoughts with holy desires.

The acid test is simple. Like a computer, what we put in must come out. If we put truth into our hearts, truth will come out of our mouths because what us inside will come out.

Proverbs 18:21 NLT
[21] “The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.”

Luke 6:45 NLT
[45] “A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.”

What is in your heart? Listen to what you say!