INDICATORS OF AN EVIL HEART

We can’t imagine someone deceiving us with no conscience, hurting others with no remorse, spinning outrageous fabrications to ruin someone’s reputation, or pretending he or she is spiritually committed yet has no fear of God before his or her eyes. 

The Bible clearly tells us that among God’s people there are also wolves that wear sheep’s clothing. Even if they claim to be Christian believers, bishops , apostles, prophets, evangelists or pastors or any other position they believe they should operate under as servants of God.

Here is what the Bible points out to those of us who do the opposite to what God requires as pointed out in Jeremiah 23:14; “I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.”

It is even strange that those people who claim to be pastors, Church leaders or even those who believe they are Christians do not see anything wrong with justifying their own sinful acts and behaviors, but God does. 

This is why Paul tells us in Titus 1:10; “For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision:” It is important to understand this as recorded in Revelations 2:2; ”But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.”

It’s true that every human heart is inclined toward sin because according to Romans 3:23; ”For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”  and that includes evil that the word of God points out in Genesis 8:21; ”And the Lord smelled a sweet savior; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.” James 1:4; “But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”

As indicated then in the above Scripture verses quoted, we all miss God’ mark of moral perfection. However, most ordinary sinners do not happily indulge evil urges, nor do we feel good about having them. We feel ashamed and guilty, rightly so as the apostle Paul says in Romans 7:19–21; “For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.” These things are not true of the evil heart.

Now here are five indicators that you may be dealing with an evil heart rather than an ordinary sinful heart. If so, it requires a radically different treatment approach.

1. Evil hearts are experts at creating confusion and contention.

They twist the facts, mislead, lie, avoid taking responsibility, deny reality, make up stories, and withhold information. While they do all these things, they are backed up by people who do not see anything wrong with such behavior. This is why even amongst those who claim to be religious justify their unforgivable acts and claim that there is no wrong done.

But if we are truly interested in wisdom and truth, we will seek guidance from God’s help because of evil people as we read in Psalms 5:8; “Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face.” 

Why? Because evil hearts are full of cursing as pointed out in Psalms 10:7; “His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.” 

Evil hearts set traps in the way of other people as we read in Psalms 58:3; ”For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul: the mighty are gathered against me; not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O Lord.”

Evil hearts lie about other people as in Psalms109:2-5; “For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are open against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue. 

They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against me without cause. For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer. And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.” 

And evil hearts imagine evil thoughts about others as in Psalms140:2; “Which imagine mischiefs in their heart, continually are they gathered together for war.”

We read in Proverbs 6:13, 14; “He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers; Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord.” All these things are actual signs of an evil heart.

The Bible tells us in Proverbs 6:16-19; “These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.”

Proverbs12:13; “The wicked is snared by the transgression of his lips: but the just shall come out of trouble.” We have seen all these things even in leaders who pretend to be Christians, but their own words betray them. The Bible teaches us in Proverbs16:20; “He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he.” 

But we are told in Proverbs16:27, 28; “The ungodly man diggeth up evil: and in his lips there is as a burning fire. A forward man soweth strife: and whisperer separateth chief friends.” Instead of bringing people together, they sow strife and divisions. We are told in Proverbs 30:14; “There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among them.” 

We read of such people through the words of Job 15:35; “They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit.” We read in Jeremiah 18:18; “Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah: for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.”

But there are people who like to create and devise evil plans to divert focus on truth and the welfare of people because they want their own way like Sanballat, who was against the good purpose for the people of Judah as pointed out in the book of Nehemiah who had to be refuted as we read in Nehemiah 6:8; “Then I sent unto him, saying, There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart.” 

We are seeing such people in our day and time in American political leadership with people making up their own interpretations of the Constitution. But what does the word of God tell us in Micah 2:1; “Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! When the morning is light, they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand.”

What did Jesus call this generation in Matthew 12:34, 35; “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.”

We have heard of people in our day and time who go against truth and come up with their own versions of events to distract genuine truth because they want to achieve an evil goal as the Jews did against Stephen in Acts 6:11-13; “Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God. And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council, And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against the holy place, and the law:”

People who try to interpret law to benefit themselves or confuse people always come up with their own understanding of what it should mean as opposed to what it was meant to mean. Just like what the apostle Peter is warning us not to do for lark of understanding of most of the apostle Paul's writings mean, lest we assume we know what he meant. We should not wrestle the word of God as Peter states here in 2Peter 3:16; “As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.”

2. Evil hearts are experts at fooling others with their smooth speech and flattering words. 

But if you look at the fruit of their lives or the follow through of their words, you will find no real evidence of godly growth or change. It’s all smoke and mirrors. The Psalmist writes in Psalms 50:19; “Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit.”  These are the evil people who lie about everything and then tell you they are good Christians. They devise all kinds of ways to destroy other people with their framed up lies. 

Psalms 52:2, 3; “Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah.”

Psalms 57:4; “My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue as a sharp sword.” 

Psalms 59:7; “Behold, they belch out with their mouth: swords are in their lips: for who, say they, doth hear?” 

But in Psalms 101:7; “He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight.” 

However in Proverbs 12:5; “The thoughts of the righteous are right: but the counsel of the wicked are deceit.”

The Word of God tells us in Proverbs 26:23-26; “Burning lips and a wicked heart are like a potsherd covered with silver dross. He that hateth dissembleth with his lips, and layeth up deceit within him: 

When he speaketh fair, believe him not: for there are seven abominations in his heart. Whose hatred is covered by deceit, his wickedness shall be shewed before the whole congregation.”  And so we read in Proverbs 26:28; “A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth worketh ruin.”

In the Book of Job we read Job 20:12-14; “Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue; Though he spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth: Yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him.”

The prophet Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 12:6; “”For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee: yea, they have called a multitude after thee: believe them not, though they speak fair words unto thee.”

We read about the whole purpose of the chief priests, the elders and the council concerning Jesus in Matthew 26:59; “Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death;”

Evil people never want to hear the truth, instead they do everything in their power to get rid of it as in the case of Stephen the first martyr in Acts 6:11-13; “Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God. 

And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council, And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against the holy place, and the law:”

The apostle Paul tells us to mark evil people and avoid them as in Romans 16:17, 18; “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.”

There are even evil people who pretend to be servants of God as the apostle Paul points out here in 2Corinthians 11:13, 14; “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.”

We have seen even rappers in America saying because they sing about heaven, they are now preachers. When did they confess publicly that they have received Jesus Christ into their heart as their personal Savior and Lord. salvation is not a dream, it is act of repentance of turning from sin to God. from darkness and all of its acts to light and living according to the principles of Christ. Salvation is not music. Where are there fruits of repentance?

The Apostle Paul warns both Timothy and us about evil people in 2Timothy 3:2-5; 3:13; “For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good. Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. … But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.”

Well even those who claim to identify themselves with certain religious rites pretending to know God and yet evil in their heart as Paul writes to Titus in Titus 1:10, 16; “For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision. …They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.”

3. Evil hearts crave and demand control, and their highest authority is their own self-reference. They reject feedback, real accountability, and make up their own rules to live by. They use Scripture to their own advantage but ignore and reject passages that might require self-correction and repentance. 

We have so many today who think only they are Christians so as to take advantage of the believers. The apostle Paul writes in Romans 2:8; ”But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath.”

Psalms 10:2-11, 13-15; “The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined. For the wicked boasteth of his heart’s desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth. The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts. His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them. He hath said in his heart, I shall; not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity.

His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity. He sitteth in lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor. He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net. He coucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones.

He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it. …Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it. Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to require it with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee: thou art the helper of the fatherless. Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till thou find none.”

Psalms 36:1-4; “The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes. For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful. The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he hath left off to be wise, and to do good. He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil.”

There are evil people who think they can also preach and teach people the ways of God but what does the word of God say in Psalms 50:16-22; “But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth? Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee.

When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers. Thou givest thy mouth to do evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit. Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother’s son. These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself:

but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes. Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there ne none to deliver.”

Psalms 54:5-6; “He shall reward evil unto mine enemies: cut them off in thy truth. I will freely sacrifice unto thee: I will praise thy name, O Lord; for it is good.”

Psalms 73:6-9; “Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish. They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth.”

Proverbs 21:24; “Proud and haughty scorner is his name, who dealeth in proud wrath.”

Jude 1:8-16; “Likewise these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. Yet Michael the archangel when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. Woe unto them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. 

These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever. And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints. 

To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage.”

4. Evil hearts play on the sympathies of good-willed people, often trumping the grace card.

They demand mercy but give none themselves. They demand warmth, forgiveness, and intimacy from those they have harmed with no empathy for the pain they have caused and no real intention of making amends or working hard to rebuild broken trust. Proverbs 21:10; “The soul of the wicked desireth evil: his neighbour findeth no favour in his eyes.”

1Peter 2:16; “As free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.”

Jude 1:4; “For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.”

5. Evil hearts have no conscience, no remorse.

They do not struggle against sin or evil—they delight in it—all the while masquerading as someone of noble character. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 2:14-15; “When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;"

But remember this in Proverbs 10:23; “It is as sport to a fool to do mischief: but a man of understanding hath wisdom.” The reason being in Proverbs 12:10; “A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.” But in Proverbs 21:27, 29; “The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: how much more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind? …A wicked man hardeneth his face: but as for the upright, he directeth his way.”

Isaiah 32:6; “For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practice hypocrisy, and to utter error against the Lord, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.” We read in Romans 1:30; “Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents.”

2Corinthians 11:13-15; “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing, if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness: whose end shall be according to their works.” Do you know someone like this?

If you are working with someone who exhibits these characteristics, it’s important that you confront them head on. You must name evil for what it is. The longer you try to reason with them or show mercy towards them, the more you, as the Christian counselor, will become a pawn in his or her game.

They want you to believe that:

1. Their horrible actions should have no serious or painful consequences.

When they say “I’m sorry,” they look to you as the pastor or Christian counselor to be their advocate for amnesty with the person he or she has harmed. They believe grace means they are immediately granted immunity from the relational fallout of their serious sin. They believe forgiveness entitles them to full reconciliation and will pressure you and their victim to comply.

The Bible warns us in Isaiah 26:10; “Let favour be shown to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of righteousness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the Lord.” Some simpler translation says, “But when grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and do not regard the majesty of the Lord.”

The Bible tells us that talking doesn’t wake up evil people, but painful consequences might. Jesus didn’t wake up the Pharisee’s with his talk nor did God’s counsel impact Cain in Genesis 4. In addition, the Bible shows us that when someone is truly sorry for the pain they have caused, he or she is eager to make amends to those they have harmed by their sin. Zacchaeus’ response when he repented of his greed in Luke 19.

This is what is recorded in Luke 19:8; "And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold." Then what Jesus say to him in Verse 9-10; "And Jesus said unto him, this day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." This is true confession and repentance from the heart of a man who is changed from inside out. A transformed heart.

“If you have been the victim of a heinous crime. If you have suffered violence, and the perpetrator (or even the judge) says, ‘Sorry, can’t we just let it go?’ You would say, ‘No, that would be an injustice.’ Your refusal would rightly have nothing to do with bitterness or vengeance. If you have been badly wronged, you know that saying sorry is never enough. Something else is required—some kind of costly payment must be made to put things right.”

As Christian believers, pastors, church leaders or Biblical counselors let’s not collude with the evil one by turning our attention to the victim, requiring her to forgive, to forget, to trust again when there has been no evidence of inner change. Proverbs says, “Trusting in a treacherous man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth or a foot that slips” (Proverbs 25:19;). It’s foolishness.

The evil person will also try to get you to believe...

2. That if I talk like a gospel-believing Christian I am one, even if my actions don’t line up with my talk.

Remember, Satan masquerades as an angel of light. We read in 2Corinthians 11:13-15; “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing, if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness: whose end shall be according to their works.” Satan knows more true doctrine than you or I will ever know, but his heart is wicked. Why? Because although he knows the truth, he does not believe it or live it.

The Bible has some strong words for those whose actions do not match their talk as we see recorded in 1John 3:17, 18; "But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth."

Jeremiah 7:8,10; Jeremiah 7:8,10; "Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever. ...And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, we are delivered to do all these abominations."

James 1:22, 26; “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. …If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.” John the Baptist said it best when he admonished the religious leaders, “Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God”

(This is what John the Baptist to those who had also gone to him to be baptized in Luke 3:8; “Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.”).

Don’t be like some women I see posting promiscuous pictures of themselves on social media and then turn around and tell you they are Christians because they belong to some group calling themselves the biggest Christian church. Stop deceiving yourself that you are a Christian. Do not deceive yourself. If indeed you are a Christian then read and obey what the Bible which is the Word of God says and teaches in Leviticus 19:29; "Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness." People stop deceiving yourselves that you are Christians when you refuse to obey and practice what the Word of God teaches.

If week after week you hear the talk but there is no change in the walk, you have every reason to question someone’s relationship with God.

Can an evil person really change?

Part of our maturity as spiritual leaders is that we have been trained to discern between good and evil. Why is that so important? It’s important because evil usually pretends to be good, and without discernment we can be easily fooled. What does the Bible tell us in Hebrews 5:14; “But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

When you confront evil, chances are good that the evil heart will stop counseling with you because the darkness hates the light (John 3:20; “For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.”) and the foolish and evil heart reject correction.

(Proverbs 9:7-8; “He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame: and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot. Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.”).

But that outcome is far better than allowing the evil heart to believe you are on his or her side, or that “he’s not that bad” or “that he’s really sorry” or “that he’s changing” when, in fact, he is not.

Daniel says, “The wicked will continue to be wicked” We read in Daniel 12:10; “Many shall be puffed, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.”), which begs the question, do you think an evil person can really change?

Hope this article will help you look deep down into your own heart and correct your ways instead of continuing in your own ways believing you are a believer when you are not.