What I think in my heart is who I am as a person.
If I want to live out the reality and the promise of the new man, then I need new thoughts in my heart to shape me.
Psalm 119:11 says, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You”.
Hidden here means to make the Word part of me, to have it so deep in me that it reshapes me.
Hiding God’s Word in my heart forms a new character in me because it gives the Holy Spirit room to work on my heart from the inside out. Holy Spirit is the One who regenerates and renews me (Titus 3:5), and He uses the Word in me to teach me a new way to live because He transforms my character, not just my behaviour (Romans 12:2; Ezekiel 36:26-27).
Proverbs 23:6-7 warns me against eating the bread of a miser because his heart isn’t in what he’s offering me. Who he is at heart isn’t who he’s pretending to be, and that’s the disconnect between the old man and the Word of God.
The Bible says, “that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts” (Ephesians 4:22), because a lustful or greedy heart can’t accept or reflect the heart and nature of God that are in the Word of God.
But coming into contact with the Word and having it hit your heart doesn’t leave you the same, which is why you need it to teach your heart a new way to think.
Proverbs 23:7 says, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he”. What I think in my heart is who I am.
This is why hiding the Word in my heart keeps me from sin. Teaching my heart a new way to think teaches my mind a new way to live.
Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy-meditate on these things”.
That word meditate means to think carefully about, to be intentional about something. If my heart is full of the Word, my mind will consider how to live it out. If the Bible tells me to be generous, my mind will think about whom I can give to and how it’ll look.
What I meditate on in my heart spills over into what I meditate on in my mind, and that is how my character is formed. As I think in my heart, so I am.
Psalm 19:14 says, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer”.
Why would David say, “the meditation of my heart”? Because what you brood on in your heart shapes your whole life: your words, your thoughts, your actions, and your dreams and desires.
Keeping the Word in your heart, meditating on it, is the only way to really let it shape you and empower you to live as “the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him” (Colossians 3:10).
Being renewed in knowledge is learning a new way to think, which is learning how God thinks. The Bible teaches us what God thinks about us, how He thinks about us, and aligning ourselves with His thought process positions us for glory.
Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us”.
How God thinks is infinitely greater than how we do, so what He’s capable of creating in our lives when we’re obedient to His will is infinitely greater than anything we can create on our own when we’re disobedient or out of sync with His will (Psalm 80:10-16; Isaiah 1:19).
In the end, teaching your heart a new way to think is choosing to be who God made you to be by living how He designed you to live. Hiding His Word in your heart and meditating on it transforms you into the new man who embodies the character of Christ and the fruit of the Spirit.
What you think in your heart is who you are (Proverbs 23:7). Knowing the power you have to choose what you think and how you think it (Romans 12:2), what are you choosing today?
I pray that you meditate on the Lord’s goodness in your heart. I pray that you meditate on His Word in your heart and mind.
And I pray that you become a true reflection of who Jesus is as His love, wisdom, and beauty are rooted deep in your heart and shining through your life.
May you have the grace and the clarity to meditate on the things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy.
May the words of your mouth and the meditation of your heart be acceptable in His sight.
And may the joy and glory of those who’re fully aligned with His will be your portion, in Jesus’s Name. Amen.
Wooooooow Otiti, this is 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥.
I recieve this prayer 🙏 🙏 🙏
” And may the joy and glory of those who’re fully aligned with His will be your portion, in Jesus’s Name. Amen..”
May God increase your anointing in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen 🙏
Amne! I receive it, Mum! Thank you so much for reading and joining the conversation. I thank God for the words. 🙂
Wow… This is absolute 🔥🔥🔥
Hiii, Kratika! Thank you! He’s faithful! 😀
Wow…you should write a book one day! I love your beautiful writing ✍️
Awww, thank you, Kim! I’m honoured. I’d love to! It’s definitely in the future by His grace 🙂 🙂