God revealed to the prophets of the Old Testament and the writers of the New Testament letters that the condition of the heart of man is bent towards selfishness. The propensity to be selfish is referred to as ‘sin nature.’ In Paul’s letter to the church in the city of Galatia he wrote: “When you follow the desires of your sinful nature …”
I have been thinking about this idea and the picture that came to my mind was magnets. Magnets have two poles. One pole has a ‘+’ (positive) charge and the other pole has a ‘-‘ (negative) charge. The poles of a magnet are referred to as either ‘north’ or ‘south.’
When two magnets are brought into close proximity, the magnets are either attracted to each other or repelled against each other. This depends on which charge the side of each magnet is facing. Opposite poles attract. Similar poles repel.
I imagine that my heart is like a magnet that is ‘attracted’ to the giant magnet of selfishness. By default, my heart is attracted to selfish thinking, selfish feeling and selfish prioritizing. When my heart is left without any external restraint or pressure, it will always turn towards and be attracted to ‘selfishness.’ That is a deadly condition. Paul said that my default attraction to sin and selfishness leads to death. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God … (Romans 3:23 TNIV)
This is where Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit and the Scriptures come into play. Jesus came so that over time the default mode of my heart would cease to be ‘attracted’ to selfishness. Jesus came so that over time the default mode of my heart would be to ‘repel’ against selfishness and instead be ‘attracted’ to selflessness. Surrendering my life initially and then regularly does a work to change my default ‘charge.’
The Holy Spirit and reading, studying, memorizing and meditating on the Scripture is the means by which the default charge is changed and pressure is put upon my heart, so that I am ‘attracted’ to selflessness and ‘repelled’ against selfishness. This is why I continually talk about Jesus, about continual surrender to Him, about the work of the Holy Spirit and the need for the discipline of spending time in the Scriptures. The only hope for our condition is Jesus, the work of the Spirit and the work of the Scriptures in our heart.
What is your heart ‘attracted’ to and ‘repelled’ against? Jesus’ plan and purpose is that your heart would be repelled against selfishness and attracted to selflessness.
Jesus, change the default charge of my heart. Cause me to repel against selfishness and be attracted to selflessness. Amen!
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