by Dr. Amanda McElroy
“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. “ Psalm 51:10
Every Christian has two natures inside our hearts that both want to be in control. We are born with a sin-nature, often referred to as our ‘flesh’ and when we ask Christ to forgive is for our sins and to save us, we receive the Holy Spirit in our hearts. These two natures compete for our attention as only one can be in control. Every decision we make feeds one nature or the other. There’s an old story about an Indian chief who described it as having two dogs inside constantly fighting, a white dog and a black dog. The chief was asked which dog would win and his response is note-worthy: “The one I feed.”
Naturally, my flesh is strong-willed and wants to be in control every minute of every day. In Ephesians 4:22-24, the Bible teaches us that we are to put off the “old man,” who yields to the flesh, and put on the “new man” which follows the Spirit. We must choose if we are going to yield to the Holy Spirit in our hearts or allow our flesh to reign supreme. God wants us to choose Him!
In Psalms 51:10, David is asking the Lord to help him with this very struggle, saying: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”
Later in the same chapter, David acknowledges that God isn’t looking for physical sacrifices in our lives without yielding our hearts to Him.
“For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” Psalms 51:16-17
In today’s society, we are quick to say what we do and do not deserve. When others mistreat us or speak to us in a manner we do not prefer, it is easy to go straight to the inner dialogue that says: “I don’t deserve this.” We want to control how other people treat us and speak to us, but we cannot control anyone but ourselves. A humble heart recognizes that God loves that person, He died for that person just like He died for you and me. A humble heart would not let the ego take over and get puffed up like a spiky pufferfish, offended at how someone is treating us. A humble heart will seek the Spirit’s leading in how to respond in a manner that honors God.
God wants me to have a humble heart. I cannot have a humble heart if I am not yielded to the Holy Spirit. The flesh loves when our ego is in control of our actions and words.
Proverbs 11:2 says this about pride: “When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.”
We are all sinners. Every day of our lives we will battle our sin-nature, our flesh. We are not perfect. We will fail. The question is: will we humble ourselves, have a humble heart before God, ask His forgiveness, and then try again: striving to feed the Spirit in our hearts?
My heart’s prayer today is Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” It is certain that without His help, I will fail today: over and over at having a right spirit and at yielding to the Spirit instead of to my flesh.
