The Condemning Heart

By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.

1 John 3:19-20

John is writing to Christian believers, and here he speaks about a problem that believers will face: “Whenever our heart condemns us.” Notice, John does not say, “If...” He says, “When...” So this is not an unusual problem.

Some believers will struggle with this more than others. Some of us are more introspective than others. Some of us are more demanding of ourselves than others. Some of us live with more sins that we have not yet forsaken than others.

Most Christians know what it is to look at ourselves and wonder, How could a person who has thought what I have thought, said what I have said, and done what I have done really be a Christian? Could it be that I have deceived myself, and that the truth is not in me? These are the thoughts of the condemning heart.

God’s purpose is not that you should live under the sentence of a condemning heart. Remember what John says next: “Whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything” (3:20).

On a scale of (1) “I rarely think about this,” to (5) “I am often plagued by this,” how often would you say you struggle with the thoughts of a condemning heart?