People can be complicated! I have often claimed that I am just a simple guy, not fancy or complicated, the product of generations of farming families. What you see is what you get! blah blah blah But in reality, I'm just as complicated as the next person, with mixed motives, jumbled up emotions, moments of doubt and fear. And an aging body just aggravates the complexity.
Just when we think that the apostle Paul has simplified matters for us by referring to our "spirit, soul and body" (1 Thessalonians 5:23), theologians jump in with disagreements about whether or not we are really made up of three parts, two parts or just one combination of all. They then disagree on how to define each part of the human being with a vast variety of views on how they all interact and work together! In the end, it just seems to muddy the water.
But the more I reflect on our human nature, the more I am drawn to one simple conclusion: the core and center of every human being is described in Scripture simply as the "heart." And if that is so, we would be benefited by exploring what the Bible says about the human center/heart and how that might help us focus our lives, and even facilitate the process of growth in Christlikeness.
If our "heart" is the center and core of our being, then everything else flows out of that center. Every other aspect of our lives, both the good and the bad, are extensions of some core elements in our heart.
Our core values, the things we treasure, are located in our heart (Matthew 6:21). Our core motivations and affections can be found in our heart (1 Corinthians 4:5). Trust, a key element in our faith, grows in our heart. Our will, our desires and the way we make decisions, is found in the heart. The human character is formed primarily in the heart, God's "law" being written on our heart (Romans 2:15). "As water reflects the face, so one's life reflects the heart" (Proverbs 27:19).
The heart is where the human spirit has the potential of being activated by the entrance of the Holy Spirit and becoming a powerful element in our lives. As the Bible says, God has "set eternity in the human heart" (Ecclesiastes 3:11; see also 2 Corinthians 1:21-22). Our personal knowledge and relationship with God is primarily a matter of the heart (2 Corinthians 4:6). In fact, the actual covenant we have made with God to be his faithful servants exists primarily in the heart, as a "circumcision of the heart" (Romans 2:29). Our deep, personal commitments reside in our heart (1 Kings 8:61; 9:4).
It is possible to be religious, to say and do all the right things, to give every appearance of being a spiritually mature person, without that reality existing in our heart. Both the prophets and Jesus had little patience with that kind of superficial religiosity (Isaiah 29:13). "Like a coating of silver dross on earthenware are fervent lips with an evil heart" (Proverbs 26:23). A lack of integrity results in the need to pretend we are more mature than we are, something Jesus condemned as hypocrisy.
It's important to note that God is described as having a heart. God's character and motivations, God's love, is a matter of the heart. That's why God was looking for, longing for, people who reflected his own heart (1 Samuel 2:35; 13:14). "People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7). In fact, if we are to grow into the heart of God, we will be dependent on God opening our hearts and depositing the beautiful aspects of his own heart into ours (Acts 16:14). It's no wonder that Paul prayed "that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened" (Ephesians 1:18).
So, we can fake godly virtues and character, but if the core and roots of those virtues are not in the heart, if they are only in our heads, we can be found to occasionally exhibit their opposites.
Virtue is found in our hearts. When God promised a "new covenant," one of the core promises was that God's Law would be written on the human heart and not tables of stone (Psalm 37:31; Ezekiel 11:19). "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 36:26). A key concern involves the difference between a hard, rebellious heart a willing and obedient heart. Somehow keeping our heart open and responsive to the Lord is the starting point of our relationship with God and the transformation of our lives.
King Solomon is famous for asking the Lord to give him a "discerning heart" (1 Kings 3:9). Just being knowledgeable would have been an insufficient basis for his righteous rule. True wisdom is not a matter of the head but of the heart (Proverbs 14:33). Trusting the Lord in every situation is the basis for a steadfast heart (Psalm 112:7). "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding" (Proverbs 3:5).
Having a personal knowledge of God and an intimate relationship with God is a matter of the heart. The prophet Jeremiah spoke of receiving a heart to know God (24:7) and of a promise that those who seek the Lord with their whole heart will find him (29:13).
Jesus promised a kingdom blessing on those who have a pure heart, promising them that they would see God (Matthew 5:8). A pure heart is simply a heart with a single focus on and commitment to God and a life that serves God wholeheartedly. Jesus warned about the danger of not forgiving someone from the heart (Matthew 18:35). In the famous Parable of the Sower, Jesus taught that it is seed planted in a "noble and good heart," in a praiseworthy and upright heart, that will bear abundant fruit. Before his crucifixion Jesus encouraged his friends to not allow their hearts to be troubled, to not be afraid (John 14:27).
The members of the first church in Jerusalem had a reputation for having "glad and sincere hearts," joyful and simple hearts (Acts 2:46). God's Spirit is joined to our human hearts, resulting in a new life with new possibilities. It is the presence and activity of the Spirit that also represents the presence of Christ in our heart (Ephesians 3:17). True worship comes from the heart of a believer, not the head (1 Peter 3:15). Frankly, it is possible to fake worship, to go through all the expected motions.
God's quality of love becomes a very important element of our heart (Romans 5:5). The peace of God is to be established in our hearts (Philippians 4:7). "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts" (Colossians 3:15). Our growing faith in God is a matter of the heart (Romans 10:10). It is the Holy Spirit in our hearts that is able to call God our "Abba Father" (Galatians 4:6). It's not just our relationship with God that comes from the heart, a heart centered on the Lord will also affect our relationships with others. "Love one another deeply, from the heart" (1 Peter 1:22).
All of the core virtues, the qualities of God's own heart, are to be found and cultivated in the human heart. Integrity of character is a result of the contents of our heart consistently matching the outward elements of our life, our soul and even our body. But it's also true that the core and roots of sin are to be found in the human heart. In fact, the growth and development of our faith and our Christlike character depends on our ability to discern these root issues.
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