how is your heart today?

Hey, friend! How is your heart today? What do you believe? What are your deepest desires? Where does your heart gravitate? What are you committed to? What would make you lose interest in living if you lost that one particular thing? If you were to answer these questions honestly, would God have any place in them? If someone invented a device that could display exactly what is in our hearts, what would they see?

The Dynamic Heart

Jeremy Pierre, in his masterful work The Dynamic Heart, shows us that our cognition (thinking), our affection (our desires and emotions), and our volition (our decisions, commitments, and actions) are corrupted because of the fall.[1] As a result of the fall, each of us is moving around with malfunctioning hearts—hearts corrupted with self-worship, deceit, greed, pride, selfishness, lust, slander, jealousy, insecurity, anger, and so on.

If this is what the heart is, we must then ask what it was made for. They are made to reflect God’s glory. Our hearts give us the unique capacity to enjoy God. Like an electric socket with multiple plug-ins tapping into an endless supply of electricity, our hearts are made with distinct senses and sensibilities to enjoy God. God is the object of our heart’s worship. Just as a sunflower turns in the same direction as the sun travels, our hearts are meant to constantly look to God for every single thing. When they turn in a different direction away from God, they malfunction. They produce evil.

Our Hearts Are Not Autonomous

Just think with me for a moment. If we were to live on an island like Tom Hanks in Cast Away, entirely on our own, do you think we would be without problems? Many in church history isolated themselves by retreating to monasteries, caves, and even high-erected pillars. At times, I feel the same way too. Every time someone criticizes me, I find myself wishing that I were on an island with no one but myself!

But sooner or later, we need to come to grips with the inescapable reality that there is no place where we can be truly alone. On the one hand, there is the presence of the all-knowing God everywhere; on the other hand, you still have your own heart with you. The most challenging thing is that you do not fully know your own heart. Because of the corruption of our hearts, we cannot automatically identify our beliefs, motives, desires, and commitments.

The heart is neither self-explanatory nor self-evident, even to ourselves. Because of the subtle undercurrents moving beneath our surface-level thoughts and actions, the heart often feels unpredictable. Therefore, isolating ourselves from people does not ultimately solve our problems. Scripture gives us a vivid example of this.

Let me give you an example. David did not foresee that his heart was going to deceive him when he watched Bathsheba bathing ( 2 Sam. 11). As the story unfolds, he saw her, he took her, he enjoyed her, and then tried to cover it up. When he had to deal with the consequences of his adultery, his heart was malfunctioning.

He was thinking, conspiring, and making deliberate choices, but self-preservation had become the only goal toward which his heart was gravitating. He was reflecting and contemplating, but only in order to checkmate his opponent. Who was his opponent? Whoever came against him. He felt threatened, and so he began building his own defense mechanisms. In all this, he remained largely unaware of the downward spiral of his own heart. Why? When Nathan came to confront him, David was shocked to discover that he himself was the rich man in the parable who feasted on the poor man’s beloved lamb. He had no idea how thoroughly his heart had deceived him in every conceivable way. You may be on your own, but you cannot protect yourself from the cunningness of your own heart!

Only God repairs our hearts

So, how do we repair our hearts? To give you a one-word answer, we cannot! Only God does. If our heart problems are deep-seated, dealing merely with symptoms will not address the real issue. We cannot put a bandage on someone who has cardiac issues. Similarly, we cannot overemphasize external behavioral issues. Oftentimes, our preaching and counseling are behavior-heavy.

If a guy is struggling with pornography, the pastor asks: “Why are you doing that? Don’t you know it is a sin against God? Stop taking your cell phone with you. Confess your sins to someone regularly. If you keep on sinning, I must doubt your salvation. Repent of your sin and trust in Jesus.” If you notice what he is saying, though much of it is biblically orthodox, he is not wrestling with how the heart is functioning.

We need to acknowledge that without the help of the Holy Spirit, a heart full of joy and repentance is impossible. It is the sole work of God. At the same time, we need to pursue it with all our heart and strength. It is a paradox. But instead of trying to unravel it, we need to trust God and His Word. This is act of faith. We are called to live by faith. The author of Hebrews says that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Heb. 11:6).

What Does It Look Like When Your Heart Does Not Desire God?

• Pray to God that you are unable to pray.

• Remember, our emotions are not God. God is God. In fact, God delights that you go to Him in spite of the fact that it is difficult for you to focus. It is an act of faith.

• Believe that God is a rewarder of those who trust that He is both compassionate and capable of saving us from our misery (Ps. 103). It begins with salvation and continues until we see Him face to face (Rom. 8:28-29).

• Read smaller portions of the scriptures. Aim to delight in it rather than ticking your devotional box.

• Ask God to help you wait in His presence. It may be hard at times, but it is worth it.

• Pray with your Christian friends from church.

• Attend Wednesday Bible studies. Maybe God may speak to you through a brother or sister.

• Most importantly, be a part of a gospel-preaching local church. Be a member. Serve other people. Take interest in what others are doing. Do not simply remain absorbed in your cell phone.

• Remember to appreciate the Lord’s Supper—the one sacrament that must pierce your heart. What would you say when the God of the universe says to you: “In spite of knowing everything about you, I do not hate you. I love you. Look at me! Look at the bread. Eat my body. Look at the wine. I have spilled my blood for you. Look at me. Drink it. Remember, I gave this to you as a sign and symbol—an expression of my love toward you.” Does not your heart begin to beat for Jesus?

  
  

May the Lord grant you a heart full of Jesus! Amen!

[1] Jeremy Pierre, The Dynamic Heart in Daily Life (Greensboro, NC: New Growth Press, 2016), 17, 53-68.