The doorbell rang. Grabbing the bowl of candy on a table nearby, I opened the door. “Trick or treat!” Two young boys in costumes stood in front of me.
“Happy Halloween,” I told them and grabbed a handful of candy to put in their bags. I smiled as they walked away.
“Trick or treat” was a phrase most of us heard a lot the night of October 31st. Usually, people think of nothing more than candy and Halloween when they hear those words, but as I thought over the phrase, I realized it can be applied to our spiritual lives, too.
Humans are broken.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
We know that we are all broken and sinners. Jeremiah 17:9 tells us that the heart is deceitful and wicked above all else. We make mistakes. We say the wrong thing, miss our chance, and choose the selfish option.
After we put our faith in Christ, we will gradually stop doing as many sinful things. Because we are being sanctified, we are becoming more like Christ and less like broken humans--but things won’t be perfect until we are in Heavenly.
Sometimes, we forget that we’re broken. We tell ourselves that we’re better than we actually are, we can do things on our own, and we’re capable of fixing ourselves. God knows we’ll forget how broken we are, which is one of the reasons the Bible is so repetitive in some places. It continually shows that humans are sinners.
When we forget that we’re broken and tell ourselves that we’re better than we are, we are tricking ourselves into believing a lie. Instead, we should treat our hearts for the broken things they are.
Tricking ourselves.
Telling ourselves that we’re good enough on our own and that our heart isn’t broken is tricking ourselves into believing a lie. Culture promotes these lies by saying things like “Follow your heart” or “Find your own truth.”
It’s easy to find ourselves starting to believe these lies without realizing it. Lately, I’ve found myself setting high standards for myself and pushing myself to do things (which is good) without relying on God (which is bad). I have only been discouraged because I’m not capable of doing everything myself. It is only through Christ that we can do all things (Philippians 4:13).
The truth is, we are not good enough on our own, and we never will be. We are broken and sinful. Thinking that we are good enough on our own only leads to pride and leads us not to depend on Jesus.
Treating our hearts.
In 2 Corinthians 12:10, Paul says, “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Paul knew that things that exposed his weakness led him to depend on Jesus. And when Paul depended on Jesus, he was made stronger. In the same way, when we admit that our hearts are broken and sinful, we are led to depend on Jesus and will be made stronger.
When we recognize that our hearts are broken and sinful, we can treat our hearts with what they need. Jesus died to save the sick and broken, not the spiritually healthy (Mark 2:17). He knows that we are sinful and accepts us nonetheless.
The only way the heart can be healed is through Jesus, who sanctifies us. When we grow closer to Him through prayer, reading His word, and spending time with Him, we become more like Jesus. He is the perfect standard that we will never reach on our own. Fortunately, we are not on our own.
I hope you had a fun time on Halloween, whatever you did. Next Halloween, when you hear kids say, “Trick or treat!” think about this: are you tricking yourself into thinking you’re not broken or are you treating your heart with what it needs?
I pray that you recognize your heart for the broken thing it is and treat it as such. When I realize my weakness, I focus less on myself and more on Jesus. He is strong and enough even when I am not.