He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”
Mark 7:20-23 NIV
School shootings. Economic inequality. Sexual abuse of women and girls. Drug abuse. Homelessness. In short, the list of social ills goes on and on. Overall, our society has some serious problems. And they don’t seem to be getting any better. Can the social ills of our society be fixed?
There are many voices calling for our government to do something to fix our problems. But all too many of these voices are calling for opposite solutions. And any attempt to develop solutions always seems to get bogged in debate. Any solutions that do finally make it through the legislature generally seem to be partial solutions. Personally, I have serious doubts that anything the government can do will actually fix the underlying problems.
Because the underlying problem is not school shootings. It is not the abuse of women by those in powerful positions. Nor is it the decay of society because of drugs, alcohol, or fatherlessness. I believe that the heart of the problem is just that; the heart of mankind. Unless the change comes from within, it is only cosmetic, and will not last. It is only when a person’s heart changes that lasting change will happen on the outside.
Then the question becomes; how does a person change their heart? There are many answers to that, but the only effective one I know of is to allow God to replace your heart; to give you a heart of love.
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Psalm 51:10 NIV