Pastor Travis Burkett
2 Corinthians 6:11-13
“O ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, our heart is enlarged. Ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own bowels. Now for a recompence in the same, (I speak as unto my children,) be ye also enlarged.”
What causes us to sin? What moves us into becoming more like Jesus? What inside us motivates the belief to choose? How can we allow doubt to sink deep inside us? It really comes down to who controls your heart.
Paul is addressing a main problem in our battle against sin and flesh. He addresses it here: “But ye are straitened (to be in a narrow place) in your own bowels (affections)”. In a way, you could say it this way: Your affections are restricted. Your heart is dictating your actions.
In this chapter, Paul is helping these people understand the power of the Gospel. He does everything in his own power to explain the Gospel of Jesus, but there are individuals still in a narrow place. Why? They’re straitened in their own bowels. Their affections are restricted. How can our affections keep us in a narrow place? It’s quite simple, we don’t do anything we don’t want to do. Now that doesn’t mean we only do things we enjoy, but it does mean that our actions always follow the desire of our heart. The heart is powerful which is why all throughout the Bible, God is after our heart.
When our hearts are not all in on Jesus, we are more susceptible to sin. Doubt breeds deeper when faith is lacking in our heart. So how can this change? We must take the narrowness off of our affections. This is accomplished through the Gospel of Jesus. The Gospel must change our hearts and cause us to live with a perspective to be rewired for Jesus.
Take a moment and reflect on what God has done for you. Rejoice in the foundation that Christ came to forgive the sins of the world. Remember the truth that if you accept the gift of salvation, you are adopted into the family of God! When we focus on what God has done, these new affections will rewire the focus of our hearts. We fight sin by allowing the Holy Spirit to fight for us. We overcome by rewiring our thinking into truly focusing on the Gospel no matter what.
So, the question really is, who has your heart? May we allow God to rewire our heart and truly say, we follow Christ!