Knowing with Your Heart

Today a person mentioned the struggle that people sometimes have of knowing something with their mind but not with their heart, and the question of how to connect the two. They understand it, but they don't feel it, and really want to know how to feel it too.

One example is God's love for his children. A person can understand that but not feel it (for instance, they are too hard on themself and have a hard time feeling God isn't too). Another example is giving: a person can see that God desires us to give and giving helps us, but when it comes to giving up extra discretionary money, it feels hard to do.

Life is complex and there are many factors that contribute to knowing with the heart. Of course our God is sovereign and blesses us with knowing things with our heart. Sometimes we don't know when we started to know things with our heart—it was a beautiful gift from God. Other times we pray for it. Sometimes we work or think hard for it too. (And the end result is still all a gift from God.)

So, if you know something with your mind, and want your heart to really understand and know it too, I'd recommend the following:

1. Pray for it. God loves when we ask for something like this—something that he wants us to truly know and feel.

2. Read and think about it. Of course, be sure to read the Bible and listen to people you trust have good theology. They can help you learn more about what you want to know in your heart. The more you know about something, the more you can like it. Many things have many facets to them. Thinking about it allows you to take it all in.

3. Be patient. It takes time. We are growing in knowledge throughout life. It's a part of life, and we can celebrate at each step we take in growing.

Some thoughts on 'The Quiet Life'

It is interesting today that the moral life is often equated with filling your day with doing good.  To be moral, as many think, is to be in a constant state of activity of 'doing good'.  It is interesting since the two greatest commandments in the bible are commands to be, not to do.  Loving the Lord your God is first a call to a life of personal devotion and prayer and then a call to act.  Loving your neighbor is first a call to an attitude toward your neighbor and then a call act.  Good works (doing good) by will power and not out of pleasure is not part of the Christian tradition, but the Pharisaic tradition.  The Pharisaic tradition was quite impressive at keeping/doing commandments, but missed the whole thrust of the law which is first being a certain way and then doing out of that sort of heart.  The difficulty is that God demands all of our heart-mind-soul-strenght as his own, while we loves so little thus violating the whole of the law.  But, that is the meaning of the cross - that we receive what Christ deserves and he on the cross what we deserve.

The trust of what I'm getting at is that the quiet life is essential to the holy life.  Jesus himself spent much of his time in the quiet life - he went to remote regions - he went upon the sea - he withdrew from crowds seeking teaching.  If Jesus could not minister without the quite life, then how can we?  It is in a sense, knowingly or unknowingly, very prideful to think we could lead a holy life without the quiet life as even Jesus could not do this.

Billy Graham was asked if he was to redo his ministry what the most significant thing would change would be. He said that he would pray more and read more scripture and preach less. Often we can accomplish more in ministry by focusing more on being and less on doing. Sometimes we accomplish little because we try to do too much.