Whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.
1 john 3:20
John writes to Christian believers, and he says, “Whenever our heart condemns us…” He does not say “if,” he says “when” because every Christian has a new heart.
If you are a Christian today, your new heart is sensitive to sin, hates its presence, discerns its subtlety, and longs for the day when it will be gone completely. This means that your own heart will condemn you, and you need to know how to answer it.
These six words are God’s medicine for the condemning heart: “God is greater than our heart…” (3:20). When your heart condemns you, tell yourself, God is greater than my heart. This statement is self-evidently true. God is greater than your heart.
Your heart may condemn you, but your heart does not have the final word. God can overrule your condemning heart. Your heart is like a lower court. God’s Word is like the Supreme Court. So, when your heart condemns you, bring your case to God.
Go to God and tell Him that your heart condemns you. Tell Him what you have done. Tell Him what you have failed to do. The first order of business in a higher court is to review the work of a lower court. What was the charge? What evidence was presented? How was the verdict reached?
Why would God overrule the judgement of your heart? Because God sees us in Christ. He sees what our condemning hearts often forget: God is “the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26). Justifies means that God declares us “not guilty” in His Supreme Court, and that means all other verdicts from our condemning hearts are overturned.
Is your heart condemning you? Bring your case to God. Then reflect on this verse: “Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1).
