I’ve read the New Testament—the story of Jesus and the beginnings of his movement. Many times.
One of the many lessons I learned from Jesus’ story was the futility of changing people’s hearts through laws.
Think through the stories of his interactions with religious people of his day. He would poke at the religiosity of their following their myriad of laws, yet the hollowness of their lives. Think of the cup brilliantly clean on the outside yet dirty inside.
The Civil Rights Movement of the early 60s formed my social and political thinking. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speech about judging people by the strength of their character and not the color of their skin struck a harmonic chord with my early lessons about Jesus. It’s what’s inside that counts most—for me as well as you.
The Movement led to many necessary changed laws in the US.
Observing today’s social environment, the changed laws led to very few changed hearts.
The other day I observed that if all the spiritual study in the world doesn’t change the way you live, then that time was wasted.
What does it take to change a person’s heart?
Faith Venture 
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