What does it mean to you to have a change of heart? How does that change take place? Do you believe it to be your own work, one that you discipline yourself to complete? Have you been able to purify your heart? What is you are going about in the wrong way?
We often hear the phrase “he/she has had a change of heart.” We assume that means they have made a one-hundred-eighty-degree turn. They once thought one way and now think a completely different way. The object of their thought can include anything.
We see in today’s passage that our souls have been made pure by our obedience to the gospel. Because we have believed in Jesus Christ, accepted Him as Lord and Savior, and chosen to follow Him, we have been purified by Him. In accordance with that purification, we are to love one another deeply. That means we are to allow the love of God to fill us and to share that love with one another.
We cannot do this on our own. That is why Peter tells us it is by our obedience to the gospel that we have been made pure, which through Jesus Christ. It is Him working in our lives. It is His blood that has made us pure. Rather than trying to do this on our own, which will only last momentarily, we must allow Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, to fill us with His love. It is by being open to God working through us that we can truly share his love. In other words, we must surrender to God through his Son, Jesus Christ, and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us.
I pray we all desire to have a change of heart. I pray we accept that we have been purified by Jesus Christ. I pray each one of us will surrender to God and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us. Desire a change of heart. Know you are purified by Jesus’ blood. Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you.
1 Peter 1:22 Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual affection, love one another deeply from the heart.
Marty Pressey 