How important is the heart

First, we will state the obvious: this article is not about the heart as a vital organ, a muscle that pumps blood throughout the body. Nor does this article refer to romantic, philosophical or literary definitions.

Instead, we will focus on what the Bible has to say about the heart. The Bible mentions the human heart almost 300 times. In essence, this is what it says:* the heart is the spiritual part of us where our emotions and desires inhabit.*

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Before we look at the human heart, we will mention that, since God has emotions and desires, it can also be said that He has a "heart". We have a heart because God has one. David was a man "according to the heart of God" (Acts 13:22). And God blesses His people with leaders who know and follow His heart (1 Samuel 2:35, Jeremiah 3:15).

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The human heart, in its natural state, is evil, treacherous and deceptive. Jeremiah 17: 9 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who shall know it?" In other words, we were affected by the fall at the deepest level; Our mind, emotions and desires have been tainted by sin - and we are blind to how dominant the problem is.

Maybe we do not understand our own hearts, but God does. He "knows the secrets of the heart" (Psalm 44:21, see also 1 Corinthians 14:25). "Jesus himself did not trust them, because he knew everyone, and he did not need anyone to testify about man, for he knew what was in man" (John 2: 24-25). Based on His knowledge of the heart, God can judge with righteousness: "I Jehovah, who search the mind, who test the heart, to give to each according to his way, according to the fruit of his works" (Jeremiah 17:10).

Jesus pointed out the fallen condition of our hearts in Mark 7: 21-23: "For from within, out of the heart of men, come forth the evil thoughts, the adulteries, the fornications, the murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, envy, slander, arrogance, foolishness, all these evil things come from within, and defile man. " Our biggest problem is not external but internal; We all have a heart problem.

For a person to be saved, then, the heart must be changed. This only happens through the power of God in response to faith. "For with the heart one believes for righteousness" (Romans 10:10). In His grace, God can create a new heart within us (Psalm 51:10, Ezekiel 36:26). He promises to "quicken the heart of the broken" (Isaiah 57:15).

God's work of creating a new heart within us involves testing our hearts (Psalm 17: 3, Deuteronomy 8: 2) and filling our hearts with new ideas, new wisdom and new desires (Nehemiah 7: 5, 1 Kings 10: 24, 2 Corinthians 8:16).

The heart is the core of our being, and the Bible establishes a high importance in keeping our hearts pure: "Keep your heart above all things stored up, for out of it flows life" (Proverbs 4:23).

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God looks at the heart and wants the heart

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It is evident that the Lord is interested in the heart, we can see it in other parts of His Word, so, in 1 Samuel 16: 7 we read:

1 Samuel 16: 7
"Because Jehovah does not see what man sees; for man looks at what is before his eyes, but Jehovah looks at the heart. "

The Lord is interested in the heart. He does not care about our outward appearance, that is, if we pretend to be "good" and "pure". The Pharisees were like that. They seemed to be pure on the outside, but inside they were hypocrites! As Jesus Christ characteristically told them:

Luke 16:15
"Then he said to them: You are the ones who justify yourselves before men; but God knows your hearts "

God knows the hearts of all of us, and as in 1 Corinthians 4: 5 makes clear, the day will come when the Lord "who will also clear the hidden things of darkness, and will manifest the intentions of the hearts; and then each one will receive his praise from God. "Contrary to the man who cares about the outside, God cares about the inside, the heart. That's why in Proverbs 23:26 it says:

Proverbs 23:26
"Give me, my son, your heart, And look at your eyes by my ways."

Many are ready to do many things in the name of God. But what He wants is simply that we give him our heart. He does not want the fruit, our acts, but the tree that produces that fruit. If that tree - our heart - is in His hands, then the fruit that will be produced will be good because it will come from a heart that has been given to Him and that is directed by HIM.

"With all our heart"

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With all of the above, it should be clear that God is interested in our hearts. However, as we will see, he is not interested only in him, but he wants it in its entirety. Starting from Matthew 22: 35-38 we read:

Matthew 22: 35-38
"And one of them, interpreter of the law, asked to tempt him, saying: Master, what is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind."

Also Deuteronomy 10:12
"Now therefore, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you, but fear the LORD your God, walk in all his ways, and love him, and serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your heart? soul"

Deuteronomy 4:29
"But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him, if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul."

Jeremiah 29:13
"And you will seek me and find me, because you will seek me with all your heart."

Joel 2: 12-13
"Therefore, now, says Jehovah, turn to me with all your heart ... rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn to the Lord your God; for he is merciful and merciful, slow to anger and great in mercy "

Proverbs 3: 1-6
"My son, do not forget my law, and let your heart keep my commandments; Because length of days and years of life And peace will increase you ... Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And do not lean on your own prudence. Acknowledge him in all your ways, and he will make your paths straight. "

We chose the previous passages for your reference as to "ALL THE HEART". God looks and wants ALL of our hearts. He wants us to love him with all our heart, to seek him with all our heart, to serve him with all our hearts and to trust Him with all our hearts. As in 2 Chronicles 6:14 it says: "that you keep covenant and mercy with your servants who walk before you with all their heart"

Sin: a theme of the heart

As we have seen so far, God looks and is interested in the heart. It is no surprise that he also considers sin as a matter of the heart. In Matthew 5: 27-28 we read:

Matthew 5: 27-28
"You have heard that it was said: You shall not commit adultery. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. "

This passage has upset many and this is because they connect sin with external events. But God does not do that. He connects sin with the HEART, the place where He looks. When evil becomes part of our hearts it is sin, regardless of when or if it will manifest with external events. As in Psalm 66:18 it says:

Psalm 66:18
"If in my heart I had looked to iniquity, the Lord would not have listened to me."

And in Isaiah 59: 1-2 it says:
"Behold, the hand of the Lord has not been shortened to save, nor has his hearing become sore to hear; but your iniquities have divided between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you so that he will not hear. "

Sin breaks our relationship with God, and as it may seem obvious from the above, that happens the moment it is conceived in our heart. That is why it is very necessary to keep our hearts. Ask God, just like David, to cleanse him from all iniquity (Psalm 51: 9-10, 139: 23-24). To verify and filter what is there, making sure that the only thing that reigns there is God and His Word.

The heart is the tree on which the fruit we give depends. If what we have in our heart is good, then the fruit we will give will also be good and vice versa.

i.The requirement so that the heart of good fruit is to keep the Word of God. The words of God that are found there are LIFE.

ii. Since now the fruit we give depends on the treasure we have in our hearts (Matthew 7: 16-18) and because the good fruit is only given by the one who keeps the Word of God in his heart (Luke 8:15) , we can conclude that when the Word of God tells us that we should guard our hearts above all things, it does not mean that we should keep the bad treasure that could be there. That should be eliminated and instead we should be careful to always have the good treasure that is capable of bearing good fruit and LIFE: The Word of God.

iii. The heart is the part that God looks at and the part he wants us to give him.

iv. He wants us to love him with all our hearts.

v. May we serve you with all our heart.

saw. Let us seek it with all our hearts.

vii. When we turn from His ways, let us return to Him with all our heart.

viii. May we trust Him with all our hearts.

ix. Finally, we saw that sin is a matter of the heart and that is why it must be confronted as such.

Therefore, let us give our hearts to the Father, just as He exhorts us.