The Heart Reveals the Man

"As in water face reflects face, so a man's heart reveals the man."

Proverbs 27:19

In our social media age, people go to great lengths to craft and polish an online persona.  Mobile phones have cameras ideal for selfies complete with settings to remove blemishes.  Instead of mirrors people use their phones to arrange their hair, apply makeup, and practice their perfect "duck face."  Touching up photos is a common practice in magazines to the point where models claim the image presented in print looks nothing like them in reality.  It's a funny thing that mirrors made of polished metal were dim and cloudy, yet with modern mirrors people don't always like what they see.  We aren't comfortable with reality so we feel an intense need to cover up, augment, or smooth out our blemishes with software.

That is the sense of this verse in Proverbs:  the clear reflection of a face in water does not lie.  A mirror image is a true representation of reality.  Sometimes when the conditions are clear and still over a large glassy body of water, the mirror image is breathtaking.  The point being made by Solomon is even as a person's reflection in water is a true indication of reality, so the heart of a man reveals the man in truth.  Spiritually the heart of man is the real person; the habits, body, and mind of the person is the reflection.  There can be a great disparity between what resides in the heart of a man and the carefully crafted image or physique on the outside.  A man who appears in the prime of health can be unknowingly dying of heart disease or cancer.  People can dye their hair, surgically augment their bodies, and refuse to be seen in public without makeup or fashionable clothes.  But it is the inside - not the outside of a person - which provides a picture of a person in truth.

It is cliche to say "it's what a person is on the inside that counts" yet in a spiritual sense the heart is the only genuine indicator of what sort of man or woman a person is.  And according to the Bible, in our natural state the hearts of men aren't a pretty sight.  It reminds me of a poster I used to have in my bedroom of an anti-smoking campaign which pictured a smoking woman supposedly covered in tar with the statement, "If what happened on your inside happened on your outside, would you still smoke?"   I would think very few would answer in the affirmative.  Forget duck face:  old tar-face is not a look any sane person would desire.  We would try to clean up our hearts if we could.  The Bible says Jeremiah 17:9-10, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? ¹⁰ I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings."  We might be able to conceal the wickedness of our hearts from men, but nothing is hidden before the searching gaze of God who will judge all in righteousness.

A fair question is posed in Proverbs 20:9, "Who can say, "I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin"?  The rhetorical nature of the verse implies no man can make this claim.  Praise God He has sent Jesus to wash people of sin and to impute His righteousness to all who repent and believe.  Even after we are born again and made new creations, we must continue to guard our hearts and minds.  We can't let a clean complexion in the mirror deceive us to thinking all is well within our hearts.  It is the Word of God and the convicting work of the Holy Spirit which make us aware of our true condition and profound need for cleansing.  Only the power of God can align our new nature birthed by spiritual regeneration with our lifestyles.  It is good for us to labour to this end.  It is easy for us to think clean living ensures the heart is clean, but Christ's criticism of the hypocritical Pharisees is proof of this folly.  It is the condition of the heart which is paramount.

It is not a man's appearance, words, or deeds that make a man:  it is his heart which reveals him in truth.  Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  When you examine your heart, what do you see?  If we are embarrassed about a sliver of lettuce in our teeth or to be seen without makeup, consider this:  if what was inside your heart was exposed on the outside, would you do something about it?  Paul said of Jesus Christ came in Acts 26:18 "...to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me."  Those whose sins are red as scarlet He can wash white as snow.  Good news indeed!