A Heart That Honors God

I want you to imagine two chairs: one labeled OLD and the other NEW. Everyone knows what it’s like to sit in the OLD chair. This chair symbolizes our old self, our original nature as sinners. Psalm 51:5 says, “Indeed, I was guilty when I was born; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.” In the OLD chair, we strive for personal success, wealth, comfort, and status. We’re driven by self-interest and the applause of others. We live to build ourselves up and prop up our own name. But when Jesus saves us, He changes our chair, our minds, our hearts, our desires, and our actions. The NEW chair represents following Jesus. In this chair, our focus is different: we seek God’s righteousness, build His Kingdom, serve others selflessly, and share Christ faithfully. In this chair, Jesus is King, and we live for His glory, not ours. As we turn to Matthew 6, Jesus shifts from internal transformation to external practices and asks: Why do you do the things you do? The world measures actions. The Lord measures motives.