"Eventually one comes to realize that what the English reformer Thomas Cranmer taught about the human condition is true - "What the heart desires, the will chooses, and the mind justifies." That's just the way we sinners operate.
In other words, the choices I make, and the mental gymnastics I employ to justify those choices, are driven by what my heart desires. And I literally cannot control what my heart desires - the heart wants what it wants. My brain "ain't running the show." The desires of my heart run the show, and I cannot bring into order what my unruly heart desires. And to make matters worse, left to my own devices, what my heart desires is to gratify myself constantly, with zero regard for God or my neighbor. The prophet Jeremiah was right about my heart, The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
So, what I need then is not tips on how to have a stronger will so that I can make better choices. What I need is for the desires of my heart to change. I need to begin to desire the good of my neighbor and to love the commands and promises of God, rather than gratifying the selfish desires of my flesh. The problem, once again, is that I cannot and will not change the desires of my heart. I'm not capable of doing it, and even if I were capable of doing it, I wouldn't do it, because I'm utterly curved-in on myself.
When I say I'm a "sinner," this is what I'm talking about.
So, I need a heart transplant.
But God... being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ...
When I say I'm a "sinner," this is what I'm talking about.
God is the one who changes the desires of my heart. Not me. God.
And he does it because he loves me." ~Morning Reflection: Curt: VCV
And he does it because he loves me." ~Morning Reflection: Curt: VCV
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