From My Head to My Heart
From My Head to My Heart
It’s been said that “the longest journey you will ever take is the 18 inches from your head to your heart.”
This is true.
And this is the reason why you and I can not only know something, but also truly believe it at a head-level, and that belief not change us at all.
Let me explain…
Recently, I’ve found myself expressing certain values and ideas that I agree with and think to be true or right. Yet, when faced with situations where those values and ideas are put to the test, my automatic responses (or reactions) reveal that I don’t actually believe what I say I believe about those things—not at a heart-level—not yet.
For example, I believe that I’m not supposed to judge other people. I believe that my primary concern should be about what I am doing right or wrong, not about what someone else is doing right or wrong (Matthew 7:1-5).
That being said, I was at church the other day when I spotted someone in the congregation whom I was convinced—from my limited insight into their life—was caught up in sin. During the sermon, the pastor who was teaching that morning talked about how some of us have sins in our lives that we know we need to lay down. In that moment, with my face still aimed toward the pulpit, my eyes shifted to glance at the person I’d been judging earlier that same morning, to see how they would respond to this call to action. But no sooner had I done this, the Spirit of God convicted me: “Don’t worry about them, Christina. You have something you need to lay down, don’t you?”
God was right, as He always is. I’d been concerning myself with someone else’s sins, when I had sins of my own to deal with: in that moment alone, a judgmental spirit and hypocrisy.
My actions that morning revealed that, though I believe (at a head-level) that I shouldn’t judge other people, I don’t really believe that’s true. Not a heart a heart-level. Not at the level that really counts. Not yet.
When you or I have an experience like this, where we realize that what we believe at a head-level doesn’t line up with what our actions reveal about what our heart actually believes, it’s worth taking a step back and asking ourselves this question:
“Am I pushing back against this value or idea out of a Spirit-led conviction that what I’ve been thinking is true in my mind is actually wrong, or because I need to let the Spirit continue to work on softening my heart to fully receive the truth He’s been trying the convince me of?”
If the former, we need to repent (let God change our minds, so that what we think truly does line up with what He says is true or right).
But if the latter, we need to remind ourselves, over and over again, of what the Bible says about that value or idea—especially if we were taught differently growing up. We need to continue to denounce what our heart still believes, and to proclaim (to ourselves, even if no one else) what our mind already knows is true. And eventually, our heart will catch up.
This is repentance (Matthew 4:17) and renewal (Romans 12:2), in action. This is what it looks like to let God change our minds, and to actively be a part of making sure that different way of thinking takes root—deep, heart-level roots.
This is why it’s so important for us, as Christians, to keep on repenting and renewing our minds, no matter how long we’ve been a Christian or how much we know (or think we know), based on our understanding of the Bible, about God and life and love.
Because even if we get it all right in our head, knowledge doesn’t change us unless we’ve taken the time and done the work, and allowed the Spirit and the Word to till away at the rocky soil of our hearts, so that what we’ve learned can bear fruit in our lives for the benefit of those around us.
May we all grow in our knowledge of God’s loving truth. But, may we never be satisfied with simply believing it with our heads, while never fully receiving and believing it at the life-changing level of our hearts.
Want to read more articles like this one? Subscribe today for free, and you’ll get blog posts and updates sent straight to your inbox, so you’ll never miss a thing!
