We all know the word “goodwill.” Yes, we should live with a good and clear mind, but we know it’s not that simple. It is also not so easy to carry out our deeds and duties from a free and willing heart, with clear and pure motives. So do everything with a joyful heart.
Lent Daily Devotional
When we read the Bible, we can see that God wants to make us into people who do everything from the heart and with joy, not grudges and resentments. But to be willing to do work freely and joyfully is only possible if the heart has become loving.
God gives a loving Heart
Only God can create in us a loving heart. We have to want, but only God can give. Thanks be to God that He wants to do this!
The prophet Ezekiel, expressing God’s intention, said:
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26)
If only God can give us a sensitive and loving heart, we must pray to Him that He will do the same for us. Perhaps our heart was once loving and full of grace, but now it has become more rigid, more insensitive. Yes, that can happen too.
Devotional for every day here: Daily Devotional
Goodness grows out of a heart that has been cleansed from sin by Christ’s sacrifice and in which God has poured out his love. Galatians also tells us that goodness is part of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22).
Do Everything with a Joyful Heart
A person in whom God has poured out his grace and love is able to work and serve with joy from a free and willing heart.
Just as the Apostle Paul writes: “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7)
In everything we do, whether for God or people, we are called to do it with a good mind and from the heart. Also in Colossians, it says: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord.” (Colossians 3:23)
Prayer for Today
Lord Jesus, cleanse my heart from all that is dirty and unholy; fill it with love and grace so that I may be a person who acts with a free heart and a good mind in my vocations and tasks in life. Amen.
