“It's not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.”- Mark 7:14
Prior to the unDEFILED project, I’m not even sure I had used the word defiled in a sentence. It’s not a part of our normal vocabulary today. But, in Mark 7, Jesus chose this word and stated “It's not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.” The word defiled, in this context, means to make unclean or to pollute. More importantly, at least for me, is Jesus is referencing the condition of our hearts.
In this context, the condition of our hearts is referring to our inner man, our thoughts, our emotions, our will, and our desires. Jesus says, “from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you [Mark 7:20-23].” There’s a whole list of “vile” things Jesus speaks of for us to examine. This begs the question…how is your heart? If you were to pay attention, just for a moment, to your thoughts, emotions, or desires, what would it reveal about the condition of your heart?
Our prayer is the unDEFILED project will become a resource for your heart. Through these resources, we pray you will discover the love of a Lord, whose blood IS enough to cleanse our defiled hearts so that you may discover a new identity in Christ…an identity that is unDEFILED. As the psalmist writes, “Let my heart be undefiled in thy laws, that I may not be ashamed [Psalm 119:80].” May I suggest you make this psalm personal? May you come to know your heart as undefiled in Christ and no longer experience the consequences of shame.
Prayer: Lord, I thank you for the blood of Jesus. I believe it is enough to cleanse my heart. I present myself before you today for the cleansing of my thoughts, my emotions, my will, and my desire. I want to walk with you in the freedom of no shame.
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