II. CLEARING THE ARTERIES OF OUR PSYCHOLOGICAL HEART
[Our psychological heart has three main arteries. These arteries, which are also the three parts of the soul, are the mind, the will, and the emotion. It is important to know how in a practical way to have these arteries unclogged. The way to unclog the three main arteries of our psychological heart is to make a thorough confession to the Lord. From experience I have learned that we need to stay with the Lord for a period of time to confess our defects, failures, defeats, mistakes, wrongdoings, and sins.]
A. Concerning the Mind
[We may begin by confessing all the sinfulness and uncleanness that is in our mind, in our thinking. The artery of our mind can be compared to a ditch that is clogged with dirt and needs to be dug out so that water can flow through it. By confessing our thoughts one by one, we shall remove the blockage from this artery. As we are making confession in this way, we may confess to the Lord how natural our understanding is concerning many matters.] We may understand the Lord, the church, the saints, and our parents according to our natural concepts and not according to the Spirit and the word of God. We need to confess to the Lord and say, “Lord, forgive me. Although I love You, my understanding of many matters are still natural. Deliver me.’’ [This is an illustration of the kind of confession we need to make concerning our mind.]
B. Concerning the Will
[What then, about our will? If we go to the Lord concerning our will, He will expose it in a thorough and detailed way. It may seem as if we are being examined under a divine microscope, for one by one there will be brought to light all the germs in our will. In particular, we shall realize that we are very rebellious, that we do not know what it means to be submissive to the Lord. One by one, we need to confess the germs of rebellion in our will. The Lord may show you that, a few years ago, you were wrong in a particular matter. Then He may go on to show you how you were wrong with a certain brother or a certain sister. Each time you will need to confess. You should thank the Lord that you are under His light, under His exposure. By confessing all that the Lord exposes in our will, we unclog the artery of our will.]
C. Concerning the Emotion
[The artery of the emotion also needs to be unclogged. When we realize how serious is the problem we have with our emotion, we may be deeply sorrowful. We may despair and feel utterly ashamed of the condition of our emotion. We shall realize that in many cases we hate what we should love, and love what we should hate. When we come into the light of the sanctuary, we shall see that the most ugly aspect of our being is our emotion, for we do not use it properly. Both our joyfulness and our sorrow may be altogether natural. As the Lord exposes us, we may feel ashamed of the way we have expressed joy and sorrow, for that expression often was natural, fleshly, even fleshy. No wonder our psychological heart does not function normally.
If we take the time necessary to unclog the three main arteries of our psychological heart, we shall have the sense that our entire being has become living. Our mind, will, and emotion will all be in a very healthy condition. All the “dirt’’ in these “ditches’’ will then be dug away.]
(Lesson Book, Level 4: Life—Knowing and Experiencing Life, Chapter 9, by Witness Lee)
