- Kerri S. Wilson
Where Did I Put My Heart?
It's really quite simple. Recognizing the need for change and identifying what needs to change is not difficult when you're willing to take the time to consider it. But do you want to change? If you don't want to change, knowing your need for change and what needs to change is irrelevant because you will never change until you want to change.
We don't want to change because we are selfish. Selfishness is our biggest problem because it's the most difficult thing to change. And selfishness keeps us from changing even when we recognize our need for change. But if we would change this one thing, if we would stop being selfish, everything else would change.
Selfishness is love of self, and it drives selfish behavior. Because of its nature, selfishness makes it impossilbe to fulfill the two greatest commandments—"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind," and "love your neighbor as yourself." (See Matthew 22:37-39.)
It all comes down to values. Jesus said in Matthew 6:21, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also," (ESV). Values drive behaviors; therefore, if you value self, everything you do will be to please yourself. But if you value God, everything you do will be to please God. So, which is your treasure? Your answer is in where you've put your heart. You'll find your heart where you've invested
your effort?
When we love God, we love what He loves. God loves people, so if we love God, we should love people. If we love God, He'll be first, and we'll put what He loves first. If we love God and others, we'll put God and others before ourselves. We'll invest our effort into God and others. And, we'll be willing to change to do so.
We protest loudly about the condition of our world, yet we do nothing to change it. Nothing is changing because none of us want to change. We're too selfish to change.
I think what I've written here is worthy of consideration. I think it's worth our time to re-evaluate our treasure. Is our treasure really worth the effort we've invested? I think the condition of our world reveals it's not been worth our effort at all.
I've found my heart, and I've realized it's time for me to put it somewhere else. It's time for me to change my treasure. I need to change. But more important, I want to change.