The Heart of the Matter

Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God. 1 Corinthians 4:5 (NIV)

 Props: 4 dark balloons, marker, pin, 4 paper hearts—2 dark and 2 white

 Preparation: Stuff 4 dark balloons with paper hearts–2 dark and 2 white.  Blow up the balloons and tie them.  Label each balloon with the name of the corresponding action.  

 Read 1 Corinthians 4:5 aloud and explain as needed.

Maybe you’re thinking, “Oh, no!  I don’t want Jesus to judge everything I’ve done.  I’ve done some pretty bad things.”  The truth is, all of us have messed up.  We’re all human.  The good news is that Jesus looks past what we do, and He sees our heart.  Let me show you what I’m talking about.

(Display balloon labeled “Burned counter”).  Once there was a little girl who loved to help her mother.  One day while she was walking through the kitchen, she noticed that a pot of corn was on the stove and it was about to burn.  Wanting to help, she took the pot off the stove and put it on the countertop.  The pot was still very hot, and it burned the counter.  She didn’t mean to, she was just trying to help.  Jesus sees past the burnt counter, and he looks to the heart.  (Pop balloon and display white heart).  Her heart was pure and right.  That’s what counts.       

            (Display balloon labeled “Cleaned house”).  There was also a little boy who cleaned the whole house for his mother one day.  That seems like a very nice, thoughtful thing to do.  Let’s see how his heart looks.  (Pop balloon and display dark heart).  What?!  His heart is dark—that means that what he did will be judged as bad.  Why would that be?  It seems that the only reason he cleaned the house was to get money out of his mom and to be allowed to go to his friend’s house.  He wasn’t interested in helping at all.  In fact, he had a bad attitude.  So, all of his cleaning will amount to nothing. 

            (Display 2 balloons, each labeled “Read Bible”).  Here we have a boy and a girl who each read their Bible.  Surely they will both be judged the same, right?  They did the same exact thing!  Let’s find out.  (Pop “boy’s” balloon and display white heart).  The boy came out good!  Jesus is pleased with Him.  He read his Bible every day because He wanted to make God happy and learn how to live for Him and do what’s right.  The girl…(pop balloon and display dark heart)…well, she didn’t do so well.  Jesus isn’t pleased with her because the only reason she read her Bible was to get more points than her friends in Sunday school class.  Her actions were good, but her reason for doing them wasn’t. 

            Jesus is our Judge.  He is the one who will look at all we’ve done and decide whether it’s good or bad.  He looks at the heart.