Set Our Hearts at Rest

This is a chapter from The Heart byBessie Wilson. You can find The Heart on Amazon, Audible,ccmbooks.org/bookstore, and the Canon+ app.

“This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and howwe set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemnus. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything” (1 John3:19-20).

What is it that helps us set our hearts at rest in Hispresence? The preceding verse (verse 18) establishes the context: “Dearchildren, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”The immediate context is that if we see a brother in need and we have no pity,the question is, “How can the love of God be in us?”

Years ago, just after Mother’s Day, a friend (the wife of apastor) told me that her young daughter had defied her and gone to a publicpark. She was wondering how to handle this when the child returned. My friendhad been folding clean laundry and was about to take it to her daughter’s roomwhen she remembered the loving card received on Mother’s Day. She put it on topof the laundry, took it to the room and handed the card to the daughter withsome remark to the effect that the card was not true, and she was returning it.It was an object lesson that words of love should be followed by action. Ibelieve that it spoke to the child’s heart for her to see that her disobediencecontradicted her words of love. (Is this why we have difficulty finding a cardto express our love on special occasions, birthdays, anniversaries, Valentine’sDay, etc.? We know our performance has not come up to our words.)

Rereading the phrase, “whenever our hearts condemn us,” we seethe necessity of examining our own hearts. When, during such self-examination,we find that our heart condemns us, two things must be considered. Does myheart condemn me because I have sinned? If so, sin must be confessed andforgiven on the basis of 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithfuland just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”This means real guilt for a specific sin of thought, attitude or deed.

Does my heart still condemn me? Here we need to evaluate withthe Lord’s help whether we are experiencing false guilt, a sort of confused,uncomfortable feeling of not making the grade and not knowing why. Perhapsverse 18 will provide some clue. Am I loving with words or tongue but failingin my actions and in truth? If my walk does not correspond to my talk, then Ineed to get back to evaluating by the Lord’s standard. He says we can set ourhearts at rest in His presence if we check ourselves by His standard. Forexample, do I say I respect my husband but by my actions and words go againsthis wishes, denigrate him before the children or friends, act independently ofhis desires and undermine his authority in the family? Many of us would have toconfess real guilt in this matter.

If, however, my respect for my husband is obvious to childrenand friends, I do not act independently, and I reinforce his authority, then myheart can be at rest in His presence. Remember God is greater than our heartsand He knows everything, so He is to be consulted as to whether, in His sight,I am loving in actions and truth.

Let’s use the same example in light of the husband’sresponsibility. Husbands, do you say you love your wife but stand by idly whenyou see her struggle with the children, the laundry and the meals (andsometimes no money)? Do you discipline the children and teach them to honortheir mother? Do you express your love and appreciations for her willingness todo without by telling her what her skills are worth in the present-day marketand how much you would like to give her things of value? It does not mean givingher a gift you cannot afford, but she will find that the thought itself is agift. The television or newspaper should not be a barricade behind which a mancan hide while the “little woman” words herself into a resentment. “Cherishingyour wife” as Ephesians 5:25 (KJV) says is to hold her dear by taking greatcare of her as a loved possession. 

Try this self-evaluation in His presence. It is a humblingexperience but rich in benefits.

- Bessie Wilson

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How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships