false reputation. His resolution failed him, time and time again, for in his heart there still lurked the desire to preserve his false glory. And so, on the one hand, he was conscious of being a sinner, whilst, on the other, he was anxious to retain the reputation of a saint. This is what I mean by saying that his heart was deceitful: and it was this deceitful heart that was the cause of his intolerable unrest.
4. What I have said does not apply only to the case of this young Minister: it is equally applicable to us all. Human life is full of Suffering and Unrest, of which there may be many immediate causes, but which can almost always be ultimately traced to the one principal cause, the Lying Heart. Falsehood is the foundation of evil, and it produces duplicity. A bad man pretends to be good, an ugly woman tries to look pretty, a lustful person puts on the airs of a prudish man: there is duplicity in them all, and where there is duplicity there is no inward peace. The tranquillity of the heart is disturbed, and continual strife ensues.
