Just because we think we believe something doesn’t mean that we truly believe it in our hearts. We are fully capable of deceiving ourselves into pointing to a framework of beliefs as the ideas that we ascribe to. These are the things that we would use to explain when asked what we believe. What we say we believe may not actually have a strong impact on how we behave.
We believe what we believe but we love what we love more than we believe what we believe.
The Bible speaks of man’s thinking heart – Proverbs 23:7. What you think in your head will always take the backseat to what you believe in your heart. A young lady sitting on a picnic blanket will commonly react to a snake by running away. This is because she believes in her head that the snake is threatening to her. That same young lady will have an entirely different reaction if she is a mother and her baby is on that blanket. This is because of what truly exists in her heart for her child.
We wrestle often with what we believe in our heads but there is no escaping what we believe in our hearts. What we believe in our hearts is what will truly transform our lives. There is no escaping the actions that result from what we truly believe. I’m not talking about what we think we believe but what we truly believe.
What we believe determines how we behave but it’s what we love that determines who we become.
This is why Jesus came introducing humanity to the deeper recesses of man’s heart. Our relationship with God is born from loving God with all of your heart, soul, strength and mind. According to Deuteronomy 6 and Luke 10 the heart is the foremost agent in truly loving God.
When our hearts truly belong to God a sense of eternal purpose comes alive. When our destiny is awakened our lives are almost untouchable by sin. When our hearts are full of what is good from God there is no room for other things. Why is this? Because your heart is full of what God has designed your heart to be full of. There is no room for bad apples when the barrel is totally full of good ones.
It takes discipline to pursue your call rather your potential.
Don’t let your ambition for success outrun your assignment for significance. Just because you can do something successfully doesn’t mean you should. Jesus wants to reign unchallenged on the throne of your heart. Hold his seat when other things try to take his place.