Before nosotros were saved our eye was hard and cold toward God. We wanted many things, fifty-fifty sinful things, only non God. We felt little affection for Him and had no interest in the things of God.

But God wants to have an affectionate relationship with us. So when we were born once more, God not only forgave us and cleansed usa of our sins, He likewise did something in our heart. Ezekiel 36:26 says,

"I will also give yous a new heart, and a new spirit I volition put within y'all; and I volition take away the heart of stone out of your flesh, and I will requite you a heart of flesh."

God renewed our center of stone and made it soft, "a heart of mankind." Now our new center loves God and is inclined toward Him and responsive to Him. With this new heart, God wants us to bask all He is in a relationship of dearest.

Since we all received a new heart when we were saved, why is this loving centre axiomatic in the lives of some just barely detectable in others? How can some of our hearts seem to take get cold and hard, like they were earlier? How tin can nosotros keep our middle in its new soft and loving condition?

The need for exercise

Medical science tells united states that for our physical heart to exist good for you, we need to do, even vigorously. But exercise doesn't come naturally or easily to most of us. Consider what it takes merely to put on our athletic shoes and go for a run. Even while nosotros're running, we have to exert ourselves to go on going and not quit. And practise isn't a in one case for all matter; we accept to do it over and over again. But working out regularly isn't optional if we want a healthy heart.

Similarly, if nosotros want our new heart to be kept in newness, that is, to be kept loving, soft, and responsive toward the Lord, then regular, continued spiritual exercise is needed. This is what makes the difference between whether our new heart remains in newness or goes back to its old condition.

And then what is this regular exercise for our new heart? Since our heart is composed of our conscience, mind, emotion, and will, the "workout" our heart needs involves four parts.

1. Exercising our heed to plough our eye dorsum to the Lord

Second Corinthians 3:sixteen says, "Whenever their centre turns to the Lord, the veil is taken abroad." Everything begins with turning our centre to the Lord. When we were saved, nosotros first repented and received Christ to brainstorm our Christian life. To repent means to turn, to have a change of heed and management. We realized we were sinful, and we turned to God.

Just even after we're saved, we still need to proceed turning. Our minds are easily distracted and tin cause our hearts to turn away from the Lord. Whatever turns us abroad from the Lord becomes a "veil" to united states, keeping us from seeing Him. Similarly, Matthew 5:8 says,

"Blessed are the pure in middle, for they shall see God."

To be pure means to exist unmixed with annihilation else. When we're turned away from the Lord, our center is impure toward Him. Our focus is split between the Lord and something else. We take two goals in mind, two aims our middle longs after, and we can no longer meet clearly. Our future, our career, even our work for the Lord can brainstorm to compete with God in our heart and occupy our mind.

So we need to exercise our middle by praying, "Lord, I turn to you right now." In fact, in the course of a single twenty-four hours we need to plough repeatedly to the Lord. For instance, nosotros might be thinking about a sure thing and suddenly find we're away from the Lord, so we need to turn. Afterward, nosotros might see a billboard that sticks in our caput, and we accept to plow again. Then nosotros begin to have negative thoughts almost someone close to us, and we have to turn yet again.

Once more and again, when we realize we're turned away from the Lord, nosotros need to turn our heart back to Him. It takes regular exercise. When we plow our eye from all other things back to the Lord, we're made single and pure over again, and the veils are taken away. This is a daily workout nosotros all need.

ii. Exercising our emotion to beloved the Lord

For us to accept an appreciating relationship with the Lord, we need to do the emotions of our eye to honey Him. We may not think we're that capable of loving the Lord, but we can remember, He gave u.s. a new eye specifically to dear Him! And co-ordinate to Romans 5:five, His love has been poured out in our hearts. He fifty-fifty told us in John fifteen:ix, "Abide in My love." Our heart is ready to love the Lord; we just demand to start exercising information technology.

One way we can daily give our heart a "dearest workout" is by telling the Lord out loud that we dearest Him. What an enjoyable workout! Just as a spouses desire to hear these words from each other, the Lord wants us to tell Him, "I dear You"—the more than often, the better. How wonderful it would be if we were to begin and end each day with, "Lord Jesus, I dearest you!" We can even say it all throughout the twenty-four hours.

Telling the Lord we dearest Him not only makes Him happy, it also helps to nurture our ain love for Him. Exercising our center this way keeps us in the sweetness of His love and refreshes our beloved for Him. Nosotros enjoy Him and sense His nearness.

We can also exercise our heart to beloved the Lord by singing to Him. As we sing to Him, our center warms and nosotros love Him afresh. For case, we can try singing a vocal similar this. (You lot can hear the melody hither.)

Requite yourself to love the Lord.
No other fashion is so prevailing
And no other way, no other style is then safe.

Requite yourself to love the Lord.
No other way is and so rich,
So total, oh and then full, of enjoyment.

Each morning nosotros must rise up and say to Him,
"Lord Jesus, I beloved You."

Give yourself to love the Lord.
Do not care for annihilation else;
Just love Him! Do not care!
Give yourself to love the Lord!

We are non our own, Lord;
All we have we give to Y'all.
Lord Jesus! Lord Jesus!
Lord Jesus, we love You lot!

iii. Exercising our will to obey the Lord

We also proceed our heart new by exercising our will to be obedient and submissive to the Lord. We do this by saying "Yeah" and "Amen" to the Lord when He speaks to us in our daily life.

Perhaps the Lord speaks to us, "Don't become to that place." If we ignore His speaking and go anyhow, we disobey Him. Repeatedly disobeying God hardens our heart toward Him. But if we go on with Him and say, "Yes, Lord, I won't get there," we obey Him. This may be difficult, but when we obey Him, our heart is kept soft and submissive. We savor Him and He becomes then existent to us, not in theory, but in our bodily experience.

iv. Exercising our conscience by confessing our sins

We practise our censor by confessing our sins to the Lord. Confessing isn't saying, "Lord, I won't exercise that again." It's maxim, "Lord, I agree with you, that was a sin. I sinned. I was wrong. Forgive me." Confessing is simply like-minded with God when His calorie-free shines on something.

Nosotros shouldn't be afraid to confess, nor should we try to hide our sinful selves from the Lord. A stiff believer is a confessing believer. Nosotros may accept years of unconfessed sins on our conscience, clogging our spiritual blood vessels and resulting in poor apportionment; we're "sickly," that is, spiritually weak and defective in God'south life. Accumulated sins on our conscience tin can make us insensitive to our censor, causing us to lose the proper feeling toward sin. Our heart becomes hardened, draconian toward sin and unfeeling toward the Lord.

Simply confessing clears everything away; God forgives united states of america and the blood of Jesus cleanses united states. We're restored to fellowship and savor the period of God'southward life in us once more. Because our conscience is clear, our heart is untroubled and peaceful, and we can have unhindered fellowship with the Lord. We desperately need this regular do of confessing our offenses to the Lord.

Paying a price to exercise

The thought that we can live any mode we like, do whatsoever nosotros desire, and still feel Christ equally our life is harmful to our Christian life. The feel of Christ is something precious; it has a price. In Revelation three:18, the Lord counseled the church building in Laodicea, "Buy from Me."

To buy something means to pay a price for information technology. It's a spiritual reality that to proceeds the precious experiences of Christ, a price must be paid. Our own wishes, desires, and decisions are the price we pay when nosotros exercise our heart to keep information technology in newness. Merely past daily practice, our new heart is kept pure, loving, right, and submissive. When our heart is in this status, all the riches of Christ are ours to experience. And the more nosotros go along, the more than we realize the price we pay is actually a bargain for the unsearchable Christ nosotros enjoy in render!

If you want to larn more about our heart, take a look at these additional posts: What Is the Heart in the Bible? and What Does Information technology Mean to Love God with All Your Eye?

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