Recently I have been studying 1 Timothy. I am reminded that wherever the gospel is preached, it will soon be tested and attacked by troublemakers. Not that anyone wants to be a troublemaker, but nonetheless, trouble arises wherever and whenever grace seeks to reign in the heart of a believer.

It is like someone is saying, “Hey, no way. So and so did such and such and deserves this and that, and I am here to make certain that justice is served blindly to those who are the most deserving.” No grace here, just a hard, hateful heart dealing out wide-eyed judgment.

In the Galatian church, the law teachers claimed that faith and good works gained a higher level of acceptance with God. In Ephesus, which is where Timothy was when Paul wrote him the letter, the law teachers were saying that faith and a good family genealogy would give you a better seat at the acceptance concert. One group was about keeping certain laws; the other was about where you went to church and who your spiritual daddy was.

Paul keeps on this message throughout all his letters in the Bible: our good works do not impress God. Good works and spiritual family trees don’t turn His head; they do not capture His notice. What moves God is a changed heart and when our heart is changed, the resulting behavior turns our heads and captures our notice.

God is moved by heart change. We are moved by behavior because behavior that is the result of God changing our hearts comes so easy and natural that at first it surprises us and then it amazes us. Our actions do not impress God like they do us. God is impressed by our hearts.

Here is the challenge of a lifetime, especially when we want the advantage over someone else: stay on message, let the Gospel do what it has the power to do — change your heart and then revolutionize behavior.

When your behavior changes because of a heart change, you will look at God and say, “Wow, how did You do this? My, do I love You.” When Your heart changes because of God’s Good News, He says, “Wow, I sure do feel at home here. Can you feel the love now?”

(1 Timothy 1:3-4 Galatians 3:2-3; Ezekiel 36:26)