That is what we are encouraged to pursue and to achieve, especially during this Lenten season. It only means that we should try our best, after due repentance, conversion and purification, that we acquire the very heart and spirit of God which is filled with none other than love.
It’s a love that Christ once described with these words: “Unless your justice abounds more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 5,20) He went further than that when he said we should love our enemies. (cfr. Mt 5,44)
To have a new heart and a new spirit that reflects the very heart and spirit of God definitely involves some transformation and spiritual growth in us. It can mean that we become more compassionate with everyone, reflecting Christ’s teachings and example. It can also mean letting go of our old ways that do not align with God’s will and ways.
To be sure, it will always involve the acquisition of the willingness to forgive and to be kind with everyone, irrespective of how they are to us. For this, there is no other way but for us to truly seek a closer relationship with God.
Let’s remember that one objective of Lent is to prepare us for our new creation in Christ. Yes, we need to be made new, that is, to emerge from our state of sinfulness and weakness, so as to become “alter Christus,” another Christ, if not “ipse Christus,” Christ himself.
Christ, the second person of the Blessed Trinity who became man to be the way, truth and life to us, is the very pattern and substance of our humanity. Remember that we have been made in the image and likeness of God, and adopted children of his.
To have a new heart and new spirit, and to be a new creation is the ideal we should strive to pursue. It requires both God’s action, which is always done, and our correspondence, which depends on how we use our freedom.
Thus, we hear God saying, “My son, give me your heart.” (Prov 23,26) It’s moving to hear God begging of us to give what is most precious to us, our heart. He does this because he does not impose himself on us. He respects our freedom, which is actually his gift to us, making us precisely his image and likeness.
And on our part, we should not be afraid to give it, knowing that what seems a loss to us by giving our heart to God would actually be a tremendous gain. Christ spoke much about this self-giving that actually enriches us rather than impoverishing us.
So, our attitude should sound like what is expressed in Psalm 50. “Create in me a new heart, O Lord.” If we really know who we are or how we stand before God who is everything to us, I suppose we cannot ask him in a tone other than this. We also need to beg him, to importune him, even if we know that as a good Father, he always gives.
This is simply the language of love into which we have to enter if we want to develop a relationship with God. What all this leads to is that we need to take care of our heart. We need to protect it and keep it always new with the newness that can only come from Christ, our savior and perfecter. (Fr. Roy Cimagala)
