by A. Adams<\/p>\n
Scripture can put you on the spot when it makes it obvious that your beliefs, actions, or choices are wrong. The simple solution to such conflict is to change and only believe what comes by “hearing…the word<\/em>” (Romans 10:17); or, said another way, stop doing what you’ve been doing, and start being a “doer…of the word<\/em>” (James 1:22). Some people try another way. They fall back on the heart, as though the heart were some refuge from the truth and reality. I have seen people who, when put on the spot by the Word, place their hands over their hearts and proclaim that what they “feel in their hearts” trumps what they see in the Word. Herein lies great irony. They do not, shall we say, understand their own heart. The Greeks called the “heart,” kardia. The Hebrews called it leb<\/em> or lebab<\/em>. The heart is the seat of rational life, emotional life, conscientious life, and volitional life. Look at “the heart” as having four compartments: think, feel, ought, and act. Each compartment is distinct; yet, individually, none is sufficient of itself as the basis of faith and decision-making. Let’s look at each.<\/p>\n The mind is that part of us we use to understand, perceive, and conclude. It’s why we can do algebra and geometry, why we can be logical. Because we can think, we can deduce and conclude. That’s what Paul means when he says, “Through the things that are made<\/em>,” we can “clearly see<\/em>” and “perceive<\/em> [God’s] everlasting power and divinity<\/em>” (Romans 1:20).<\/p>\n Emotions move us to love, compassion, mercy; anger, disgust, indignation; humility, meekness, kindness; patience, forbearance, forgiveness; zeal, devotion, sacrifice; and many more.<\/p>\n “Each man must be fully assured in his own mind<\/em>” (Romans 14:5). It’s never right to act contrary to what you believe to be right, or wrong; for “whatsoever is not of faith is sin<\/em>” (Romans 14:23). But, we learn from Paul that one can “live in all good conscience before God<\/em>” (Acts 23:1) and be wrong.<\/p>\n We do what we want to do. “Do this” is a common phrase in the Bible. Human beings have willpower. They choose, decide, and act. This involves a great challenge. Rather than simply saying, “I will do this or that,” the Spirit says, “Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that<\/em>” (James 4:15). Heartfelt religion is a good thing only when all the parts of the heart are working. Intellect does not outweigh nor negate emotion or volition.<\/p>\n Feelings are incomplete and impotent without will. Conscience is not, after all, our guide. Sitting around thinking about things, and never doing is profitless; nor is there profit in going “full steam ahead” without having thought it through.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by A. Adams Scripture can put you on the spot when it makes it obvious that your beliefs, actions, or choices are wrong. The simple solution to such conflict is to change and only believe what comes by “hearing…the word” (Romans 10:17); or, said another way, stop doing what you’ve been doing, and start being…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[546,495],"class_list":["post-90275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-feelings","tag-heart"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":44046,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/with-all-your-heart\/","url_meta":{"origin":90275,"position":0},"title":"With All Your Heart","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 9, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Psalms 119:9-16 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is frequently stated that the difference between the Old and New Testaments is that the Old emphasizes the physical and the New the spiritual \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In part, it comes from passages like \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Romans 2:28-29 - The true Jew is inward, not outward\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":64712,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-heart-of-stone-or-a-heart-of-flesh\/","url_meta":{"origin":90275,"position":1},"title":"A Heart of Stone or a Heart of Flesh?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 17, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jarrod M. Jacobs Twice in the book of Ezekiel, God spoke about the fact that He would take the people and remove their \"stony heart\" so they might have a heart of \"flesh\" (Ezekiel 11:19; 36:26). In context, the \"stony\" heart describes the person who has been disobedient and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42862,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/finding-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":90275,"position":2},"title":"Finding God","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 4, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Don Bunting \"If you want to find God ... look inside your own heart.\" Really? It is often suggested that the path to truth and knowing God is to look deep within yourself, to search your own mind and feelings. I believe it is important for us to know\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bible-Reading-3-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":39677,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/god-knows-my-heart\/","url_meta":{"origin":90275,"position":3},"title":"God Knows My Heart","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 11, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Marilyn LaStrape Those of us who have evangelistic courage for the lost and continuing concern for the unfaithful probably have heard the title of this article in defense of their lifestyle choices. When questioned or challenged about accountability, God \"knowing their hearts\" is often the response. \"I know I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/heart-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":55055,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-you-teachable\/","url_meta":{"origin":90275,"position":4},"title":"Are You Teachable?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 8, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Larry W. Rouse When I first became a Christian I thought that the key to bringing others to obedience to Christ was to have clearly reasoned evidence based on the Word of God. \u00a0I thought \"if others could just hear the truth taught simply and plainly then they too\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Teaching.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":56975,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-does-the-lord-open-hearts\/","url_meta":{"origin":90275,"position":5},"title":"How Does the Lord Open Hearts?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 16, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Greg Gwin In Acts 16 we read: \"And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither. And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90275\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Think<\/h2>\n
Feel<\/h2>\n
Ought<\/h2>\n
Act<\/h2>\n