Tozer on the Inner Man

This was so good today that I felt compelled to share:

Personal Life: People Are What They Think About

Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of
life. 
--Proverbs 4:23

Every person is really what he or she secretly admires. If I can learn
what you admire, I will know what you are, for people are what they
think about when they are free to think about what they will.

Now, there are times when we are forced to think about things that we
do not care to think about at all. All of us have to think about
income taxes, but income taxes are not what we want to think about.
The law makes us think about them every April. You may find me humped
over Form 1040, just like everyone else, but that is not the real me.
It is really the man with the tall hat and the spangled stars in
Washington who says, "You can't let it go any longer!" I assure you it
is not consentingly done! But if you can find what I think about when
I am free to think about whatever I will, you will find the real me.
That is true of every one of us.

Your baptism and your confirmation and your name on the church roll
and the big Bible you carry--these are not the things that are
important to God. You can train a chimpanzee to carry a Bible. Every
one of us is the sum of what we secretly admire, what we think about
and what we would like to do most if we became free to do what we
wanted to do.  Faith Beyond Reason, 96.

"Lord, You know the secret thoughts of my heart; nothing is hidden
from You. May those thoughts be pure thoughts, pleasing to You, completely under the control of Your Holy Spirit. Amen."


As usual, he succinctly hits the nail squarely on the head.  This is why counseling must be about real heart change and not just about behavior modification.  It's not enough to clean the outside of the cup!