The Honest Heart

The Honest Heart
8-24-08

This morning I was full of regret over hurtful words I had spoken to my husband the night before. Though we resolved our disagreement, I had felt the need to be honest throughout our conversation and shared my misgivings concerning the course of events that currently affected both our lives. I wished I could have been holier, somehow nicer. The Lord led me to 1 John 1:7 where it talks about walking in the light, and that our fellowship will cleanse us from all sin. “Fellowship?” I thought. It didn’t seem like fellowship. The Lord interrupted my thoughts with the following;
“You don’t know the value of an honest heart, nor the strength of grace and love. Man was meant to forebear one another’s weaknesses. It is satan who uses man’s weakness as a tool in the hands of his brother, defeating the weaker man. But love and grace cause the strong man to forgive and help the weak one. I designed it this way, and therefore see the honest heart as the valuable one, for it will be cleansed of all evil. The man who hides evil in his heart deceives himself that he is good. His appearance is one of carefulness against sin, but his greatest care is that satan will use his sin as a tool in the hand of his brother against him. He doesn’t trust enough to walk in the light, so his fellowship does not cleanse him from sin.”
In thinking about the Lord’s words, I realize that we shouldn’t sin so that His grace would abound. However, we should not hide our sin either. The admonition to walk honestly with our brothers (and husbands) in Christ is the way God designed for us to walk. This takes humility, and should be followed with prayer, not presuming on grace. It puts us in the hands of God, from whom we desire cleansing and acceptance, and man, to whom we are being reconciled. Amen.