Christ Formed In You

Your heart is your executive center, the part that is uniquely you. Your heart is the place from which your life is directed and your choices are made. This is the part of you that God is most interested in (1 Sam 16:7; Is 29:13). Jesus teaches that every external behavior has its ultimate source in the heart (Mt. 15:17-20; and see Prov. 4:23). This deep central part of you if variously called your heart, your will, and your spirit. However, while your heart is central, it is very weak and relies on your character to get much of anything done. Further, it has been malformed by life in a sin-twisted world. What is required, therefore, is not behavior modification, but a renovation of the heart.

Your character is the great managerial complex of your life—the automated part of you that creates predictability and a track record. Just as your body learns to brush your teeth on autopilot, the rest of you learns to navigate life. The problem is, we’ve learned in a sin-twisted world, resulting in sin-twisted character. So even when we want to act like Jesus, our ingrained responses pull in other directions. Jesus taught that “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak” (Mt 26:41). Sincerity is not the problem. The problem is that rudders are small and ocean liners are big. That’s why our character must be retrained to become our ally, not our enemy, in Christlikeness.