Dirty Hearts

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

I had the wonderful adventure of being an aid in a k-4 class last week. It was fun to see these children interact with each other, the teacher, and me. I must say that I didn't just sit and watch but worked as hard as the teacher. An aid is a very necessary thing in a k-4 class.

During Bible time the teacher was talking about John the Baptist. She said his job was to go around and say, “Get ready. Jesus is coming! Get your heart ready. Get sin out of your life! Get ready!” Then she asked if any of the four (and some reminded me that they were actually five) year olds knew what sin was. One little girl raised her hand and said, “It’s when you have dirt in your heart.”  I tried not to laugh and the teacher continued to talk about sin as disappointing God or not doing things God’s way or doing things we know are not right.

But the “dirt in your heart” statement kind of stuck with me and made me do a lot of heart searching.

1 John 1:9 states that:

1.    We must confess our sins. In our Greek New Testament the form of the word “confess” was only used here. I found out (for all of you grammar geeks) that it is a first person present active subjunctive verb.  Wow, one word can have a six term grammar place?  This is something I haven’t explored in a while. (Maybe since a college English class.) First person means me. Present means now. Active means and actual action. Subjunctive means my action will cause another action. And of course a verb is something I physically, emotionally, or mentally do. Confessing is not a half-hearted "wish I could" or "hope I can." It is telling it to God like it actually is. It is getting brutally honest with God about myself and my actions.

2.    We must confess our sins.  Sin is when we missed what God wants out of us. We failed pleasing God and it was our fault not someone else’s. We know God knows about it and we agree that something must be done to rectify it.  That’s where the confess part comes into play.

3.    If we confess our sins (the subjunctive part) He will faithfully and actively forgive our sins.  God will let it go and not hold us accountable for the fault. He will divorce Himself from it and forget it ever happened. That’s so encouraging to know.

4.    He will cleanse us from all of the unrighteousness. This is where the “dirt” comes in. You see, this word cleanse was talked about by the Greeks of the day. The word they used was “Katharsis” which we use today as “catharsis.” It really means to clean, remove the dirt, and purify. The Greeks used the word when they washed dishes, to be cleansed from leprosy, a resolution for an emotionally charged play, or removal of an offense. So sin really is having dirt in your heart that God can clean up for you.

As I watched these 4 (and 5) year olds go home at the end of the day, I saw how much these little dirt magnets had physically accumulated. And it made me wonder and evaluate how much metaphorical dirt I was bringing home. And I realized my dirtiness was more serious than theirs. That’s why the present active verb is so important. Confession of sin is a daily thing (maybe a several times a day thing.)

I want to keep the dirt out of my heart.

If we confess our dirt He is faithful clean it up.

I don’t want to go around with a dirty heart.