Give your heart to Jesus?

Has anyone ever told you to give your heart to Jesus? "If you want to be saved, you must give your heart to Jesus".

While I can understand what people mean when they say this, I don't think they fully understand what they are saying. Am I to give my heart to Jesus, then he will save me? Is he waiting for my good intentions and then he will accept me?

Can I really give my whole heart this time? I still have this itch for playing playstation and I know that I sort of like it more than church, but I'll try to give my heart... I'll try and God should respect that at least...

2 weeks later after failing an exam : Oh God, please forgive me for my sin, I feel so far from you. I now give you my whole heart, I will give up playstation (you're just saying it to bargain with God so you can feel better), I promise. Here is my heart and my life again.

Oh no...

God has already given His heart to each and every person that has ever lived on the face of the earth. He was crucified naked, his heart pierced, humiliated and suffered a gruesome death. He gave you his heart all right...

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. -2 Cor 5:18


The challenge is not to give your heart to Jesus, but to hear and see that he has already given you His. He has already forgiven you of all sin. He has already forgiven you for sin that you are going to commit tomorrow and in 10 years. Your good intentions, repentance or giving of heart DOES NOT BUY SALVATION. Jesus bought it on the cross for you and now we experience this amazing gift by believing in the free act of grace. You experience freedom by knowing the truth of the glorious Gospel that God is not against you but that he is fully and 100% for you.

It's all by grace. None of your internal or external works were ever required. Jesus took all the effort upon himself 2000 years ago.

Now after realising this and connecting the dots that God has in fact done me this indescribable favour... Something so amazing... Bigger than my mind and understanding... It is at this point of coming to an understanding of the goodness of God that our hearts change.

It is now no longer us giving up our hearts, but we realising that this indescribable God's heart was fully given to me. He loved me before I even knew it... While I was still a gross sinner. (Rom 5:10) Now without any effort I cling to His heart. That beautiful and most loving heart has now found its permanent residence in me.

It is at this point that my own heart becomes insignificant and worthless. All I want is his love, his grace and his goodness.

So next time someone asks you if you have given your heart to Jesus, you can answer with the good news of the Gospel : God has without restraint already given his heart to me, and my own heart was totally transformed by beholding his goodness and grace.