Heart

From my understanding, the heart is the seat of our personality. It controls our mind, will, and emotions (www.preceptaustin.org/heart_kardia).

As a Christian woman, I try to wrap my mind around this. What exactly does it mean? God, won’t You please give me divine understanding?

When you think of the word personality, what are some other words that come to mind? For me? Character, nature, makeup, identity, these are just to name a few. Automatically when pondering on these things, my heart and mind go to God. What is the character or nature of God? If you have read my first blog, then you will be familiar with this passage from the Bible.

And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers, upon the children and the children’s children to the third and fourth generation. Exodus 34:6,7 (NKJV)

Furthermore, how do we identify with God?

Then God said, “Let Us make man in our image, according to our likeness…So God created man, in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Genesis 1:26, 27

We were made in His image, in His likeness. We were created to be filled with His character/nature.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Galatians 5:22, 23

Another aspect I want you to think about. We were created for fellowship with our heavenly Father.

And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Genesis 3:8

I love this scripture for two reasons. 1.) It’s evidence of fellowship that God had between Himself and man/woman. His sons and daughters. They heard God walking in the garden. He was coming to walk, to have fellowship with them. 2.) They hid. Why? If you go back to the beginning of chapter 3 of Genesis it says,

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

That was the fall of mankind. The moment they doubted God’s heart towards them. They sinned causing them to fall away from God. The story isn’t over. As you continue to read through the Bible, you see that it’s a story of redemption and love. God redeemed man through His Son, Jesus Christ, because He loves us. He loves you! He wants you!!

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotton Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved .John 3:16,17

God is captivated by you. He is chasing you down with His love. Won’t you be captivated by our God? The one whose love for you will never change. The one who fulfills all your longings and desires. The one who forgives all your sins and washes you clean with the blood of Christ. The one who can set you free!

Let me end with this scripture:

Delight yourself also in the LORD and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:3 (NKJV)

© 2021 Leslie Wittenmyer ~ All rights reserved