Touré Roberts - Strong Insides create Successful Outsides

I want to talk about your insides. I want to discuss one of the most neglected parts of a person: the most neglected part of a human being is their insides. Your insides. Most people spend so much time working on their outside. Oh, I feel heaven! I mean countless times in the mirror, in the closet, and then in the mirror again. Some people can’t pass a mirror without having a look, and it’s the funniest thing! They do it as if you can’t see them doing it. Walk past, and you just know what’s going to happen. There’s a mirror right there. Watch. One, two, three—wait for it! Yeah, the most neglected part of a human being is their spirit. I think one of the reasons this is true is that, first of all, we live in a very natural world, a very physical world, and so there’s an illusion that just because we see it, that’s the most important thing. In other words, if I’m in a physical world with physical needs, then I should invest my time in physical things. Another reason is that I don’t think we really know how to deal with our spirit. Oh God, I feel heaven! Some people right now don’t even know who they are because they don’t know their spirit. You do things and are trying to figure out why you do those things, and sometimes you get mad at yourself because you don’t know your own spirit. You have an idea of who you want to be, but who you want to be might be different from who you are. Stay with me. I’m going to talk a little bit, but stay with me. Because when I start playing at the end, they’ll know that’s when I’m leaving. You know what I mean. When I have about 30 more minutes to go, then I’ll have you play again because the most neglected part of a person’s life is their spirit, not realizing that their entire life consists of who they are spiritually.

I want to show you a couple of things in the scripture. Let’s go to Proverbs 20—no, Proverbs 25. I texted you Proverbs 23:7, which says, «For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.» For as he thinks in his heart, he is. So he is outwardly who he is spiritually. If I want to change my outsides, I have to change my insides, and that’s a little scary because I didn’t know that my heart could think; I only thought that my heart could feel. So keep that in mind: «For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.» My insides determine my outsides. What’s happening in me is creating what’s happening outside of me. If I want to change what’s happening outside of me, I’ve got to change what’s happening inside. Are we together? In Proverbs 4:23, the wise Solomon says, «That’s why you have to keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.» Everything about my life can be tied back to what’s in my heart. Yet our insides are often neglected. You might say, «No, I pray every single day! I worship every single day! I have my worship music playing every day. I’ve got my Hillsong playing every single day! I’ve got my One Voice playing every single day!» Whatever it is, I don’t care if it’s playing nonstop.

To change your insides, you’ve got to be open. There are people in this sanctuary right now who have been in this sanctuary before, who have been in the presence and atmosphere of the transformational power of God, and they haven’t changed. This is because we don’t know how to access our spirit, how to work our spirit, and how to yield in such a way that we change. Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it, oh I feel heaven! Spring the issues of life. Being heart-aware, self-aware—what’s in my heart? Now, if we go back to the text that says, «As a man thinks in his heart, so is he,» that lets us know again that your heart thinks. The thoughts of your heart—any thought—is shaped by something. That’s why when God talks about changing you, he says, «I need to transform you by the renewing of your mind.» In other words, in order to change you, I have to change the way you think. If my life consists of what’s in my heart and my heart thinks, then the thoughts of my heart make me feel the way I feel, and since I do what I feel, I need to try to really understand and break down the anatomy or psychology of my heart. My heart thinks, so I need to understand—see psychology is the study of thought, how you think, how you draw conclusions. Some people have, watch this, psychologically unhealthy hearts, and the psychologically unhealthy hearts affect everything about your life. If you don’t understand it, you’re going to blame it on life itself.