Question:
How can I be a “man after God’s own heart?”
Answer:
“I was shown that it was when David was pure, and walking in the counsel of God, that God called him a man after His own heart. When David departed from God, and stained his virtuous character by his crimes, he was no longer a man after God’s own heart. … God would not justify anyone in transgressing His commandments, but that He will surely punish the guilty, however righteous, and favored of God they might once have been while they followed the Lord in purity of heart. …” Spiritual Gifts, vol. 4a, 87
“[T]he history of David furnishes no countenance to sin. It was when he was walking in the counsel of God that he was called a man after God’s own heart. When he sinned, this ceased to be true of him until by repentance he had returned to the Lord. …
“Though David repented of his sin, and was forgiven and accepted by the Lord, he reaped the baleful harvest of the seed he himself had sown. … His authority in his own household, his claim to respect and obedience from his sons, was weakened. A sense of his guilt kept him silent when he should have condemned sin; it made his arm feeble to execute justice in his house. …
“Those who, by pointing to the example of David, try to lessen the guilt of their own sins, should learn from the Bible record that the way of transgression is hard. Though like David they should turn from their evil course, the results of sin, even in this life, will be found bitter and hard to bear.” Conflict and Courage, 180
“When the righteous turn from their righteousness to do evil, their past righteousness will not save them from the wrath of a just and holy God.” Testimonies on Sexual Behavior, Adultery, and Divorce, 95
[Emphasis supplied]