“Pride is an independent, me-oriented spirit. It makes people arrogant, rude and hard to get along with. When our heart is prideful, we don’t give God the credit and we mistreat people, looking down on them and thinking we deserve what we have.” – Joyce Meyer
THERE ARE TWO HEARTS that govern the human life. One is the centre of blood circulation, where the life-flowing liquid is pumped throughout the physical body. The other, sometimes called the “inner man” or the “spiritual man”, is the centre of mankind from which flow “thoughts, desires, appetites, affections and purposes”.
Each heart necessitates a healthy lifestyle in order to enjoy life to the fullest. If not managed well, both may develop a variety of diseases with the potential of impairing the well-being of diverse areas for which they were designed to serve.
Today and for the next few weeks, my concentration will not be on the physical heart and the various forms of diseases, which can be formulated as a consequence of hereditary concerns or an unhealthy lifestyle. Instead, the weight of my discourse will be on the complex nature of the “inner man”, its challenges and how a pink-of-health lifestyle can work in its best interest and for the profit of all.
It takes a trained heart specialist to clearly identify the diseases in the child’s physical heart. Similarly, it also takes a spiritual heart specialist to pinpoint the defects within the non-physical heart.
While conducting a seminar, Jesus, the most qualified heart specialist of the “inner man”, highlighted 13 symptoms of the diseased heart recorded in St Mark 7: 21-23. “For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean’.”
Any right-thinking individual would have to be very simple-minded not to admit the presence of the above-mentioned symptoms which are a constant in the behaviour of the human family throughout the world.
The disease of the “inner man” which affects every area of the human personality, is identified in the Holy Bible as sin, which is literally translated from the original script as “missing of the right way”. One distinguished political leader from the Middle East who had an excellent relationship with God spoke of the sin disease and its genetic nature. In Psalm 51: 5, David said: “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” Like David, all human beings have been born with a bent or predisposition toward what is not right.
Negative human behaviour
Humanistic psychologist Carl Rogers, in the Journal Of Humanistic Psychology (Summer 1982), though acknowledging the symptoms of negative human behaviour, shared his own views that go against the biblical view: “For myself, though I am very well aware of the incredible amount of destructive, cruel, malevolent behaviour in today’s world – from the threats of war to the senseless violence in the streets – I do not find that this evil is inherent in human nature.”
His colleague, psychologist Rollo May, on the other hand, documents his uncertain thoughts: “Today we know a great deal about bodily chemistry and the control of physical diseases; but we know very little about why people hate, why they cannot love, why they suffer anxiety and guilt, and why they destroy each other.”
Many years before Carl Rogers and Rollo May were born, one of God’s many representatives, Jeremiah, had answered their question in the book attributed to him in the Bible, in Chapter 17, verse 9 of his writings. Jeremiah made a very enlightening statement about the heart: “The heart is deceitful [crooked, polluted, sly, insidious, slippery] above all things, and is exceedingly perverse and corrupt and severely, mortally sick! Who can know it [perceive, understand, be acquainted with his own heart and mind]?” He went on to conclude that only God can.
Common denominator
Psychologists, psychiatrists, sociologists, natural scientists and theologians continue to differ over what triggers wilful, wicked acts. The undeniable common denominator among all, however, is the reality that these daily uncaring behaviours are displayed among people everywhere on the planet. The demands on parents, principals, police; the health care professionals, the armies, the criminal lawyers, the courts, the politicians, the prison personnel, security firms, all seem to speak to something within the “inner heart” that mankind has difficulty in conquering on his own.
There is very sound admonition given in Proverbs 4:23 by Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived. “Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.” Obviously Solomon is suggesting that negative poisons, with all of their dangers, need not flow from one’s heart. In the inner chambers of one’s being are positive, priceless treasures that must be carefully protected and nurtured because of their character-building components. If you have a sound and solid belief system, which is rooted in the true and living God, you can master those troubling thoughts of the heart and cultivate positive ones.
Mahatma Gandhi was right when he said: “Your beliefs become your thoughts, Your thoughts become your words, Your words become your actions, Your actions become your habits, Your habits become your values, Your values become your destiny.”
The words of John Maxwell are also true when he expressed that mankind has been able to conquer outer space but has never been able to conquer his inner space (the heart). How insightful. Our “inner man” needs to be conquered so that families and communities at large, can benefit. “Open heart surgery” may become necessary in order for maximum benefits to be derived.
I shall attempt to examine some surgical “procedures” within the next few weeks.
• Reverend Haynesley Griffith is a marriage and family life consultant. Email [email protected]
