On the heart

The Bible has hundreds of verses on the nature of the heart.  And when one includes other “inner man” topics like conscience, will, desires, motives, mind, and thoughts, there are hundreds more.  Consider this very small sampling of Scripture’s instruction on our hearts:

• The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God,” They are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice; There is no one who does good. (Ps. 53:1)
• Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life. (Prov. 4:23)
• But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. (James 1:14-15)
• And He was saying, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.” (Mark 7:20-23)

Everything we do and say reflects what is in us — our meditations, thoughts, longings, and desires.  Our words and actions are not random.  They identify what we are.  

So we do well to be attentive to our inner man.  

In addition to Scripture, many writers have also reflected on the nature of the heart; I have found the following words particularly helpful in evaluating and protecting my heart in a biblical manner:

“If the heart is wrong, lacking reverence, or love, or purity, or humility, or a forgiving spirit, but instead festering with pride, self-seeking ambition, envy, greed, hatred, sexual lust or the like, nothing that one does can be right in God’s sight, as Jesus told the Pharisees time and time again. Too often today, however, as among the Pharisees, the moral life is reduced to role-play, in which prescribed and expected performance is everything and no attention is paid to the craving, ragings and hostilities of the heart so long as people do what it is thought they should.” [J. I. Packer, in the Introduction of John Owen’s Mortification of Sin.]

“Labour to know thine own frame and temper; what spirit thou art of; what associates in thy heart Satan hath; where corruption is strong, where grace is weak; what stronghold lust hath in thy natural constitution, and the like….Be acquainted, then, with thine own heart; though it be deep, search it; though it be dark, inquire into it, though it give all its distempers other names than what are their due, believe it not.” [John Owen, quoted by Brian Hedges in Watchfulness.]

“The heart is never passive, even in times of extreme physical illness.” [Greg Gifford, Helping Your Family Through PTSD.]

“What holds us in bondage is us! Our sinful and selfish desires rule our wills. We can do only what we want to do, and we only want to do what is contrary to God’s will. Ever since Adam, our hearts have had a deep-seated bias against God.” [Tim Chester, Reforming Joy.]

“Our hearts will be shepherded by something or someone. I fear that for many the doing of God’s will has been replaced by the seeking of our happiness and peace by our own means. Secular culture becomes our shepherd rather than the Good Shepherd. But life abundant can only be found in him and through him.” [T. Dale Johnson, Jr., The Church as a Culture of Care.]

“You work at keeping your conduct in line, and you work at maintaining a good reputation, but you don’t work enough at keeping your heart.  The problem with this is unless you learn to keep your heart, your conduct and reputation will be of little value and may come crashing down in times of weakness.” [Joe Thornton, Note to Self.]

“Life finds its headwaters in the heart. As goes the heart, so goes the man. To neglect the heart is to ignore the most vital place. To guard the heart is the ‘one great business of a Christian’s life.’ If you neglect the heart, then you have missed the crucial thing, the most necessary thing.” [A. Craig Troxel, With All Your Heart.]

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