Our Actions and Words Match Our Hearts

Our hearts cannot be different from our decisions and actions. Good people act righteously as a lifestyle, if they fail they confess to be cleansed.

There is no such thing as a person who makes bad decisions being a "good person."

Good people say and make good decisions and bad people do and say bad things.

The only way to improve ourselves is to admit our failures, and confess them to God and to those we have offended, this is the way to healing and progress in holiness.

1 John 1:9

"9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Notice the word "if" in this passage, we cannot become better if we do not confess. Just trying not to do the bad things again will not produce a heart that has been cleansed. WHY?

Because trying in our own effort presumes that we have within ourselves the ability to be better without God's help. We can only be cleansed from the sin permanently by the power of the Holy Spirit. It must be a work of God to cleanse our heart.

Ephesians 2:9-10 "…9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life."

When our heart is cleansed the desire to sin is removed. We hate the sin so much that we do not repeat it.

My concern is that too many people do not confess sin, do not grow in holiness and develop a mentality of excuses for bad attitudes and behavior. It does not take many times of excusing sin to create a hardness of heart that is unable to repent and no longer has the ability to understand right from wrong.

Hebrews 3:7-8 "7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear His voice, 8 do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness,"

I am convinced that someone who develops a hard heart cannot be saved. The Holy Spirit would not allow someone who has been changed by Christ to be comfortable in their sin no matter how small that sin seems.

Romans 2:3-5 "…3 So when you, O man, pass judgment on others, yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance? 5 But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.…"

If we love Christ and others we will encourage confession of sin to be cleansed.