The word heart is used figuratively to describe the center of our desire and passion. When Jesus says we should love Him with our hearts, it’s that desire and passion He’s referring to. Most of us can probably recall times when we’ve had strong emotions of love for and devotion to God. If you’ve participated in church activities for much of your life, as I have, you’ve probably been to a special event like a camp or conference where you truly felt moved by God. Maybe you had your heart broken and shed some tears. Maybe you lifted your hands high as you sang songs of love and devotion to your Creator and Savior.
I remember attending a large men’s conference at Texas Stadium, located a few minutes away from my new house in Dallas. I’d just moved in the day before and was running a bit late. As I walked through the parking lot, I could hear the voices of tens of thousands of men singing “How Great Thou Art.” The sound of so many voices singing praise to God moved me in a profound way. Tears filled my eyes as I walked from my car in my church. I heard the song many times before in my church, but never in such a dramatic way. I felt deep emotion for God that day.
After the conference was over, I made a short trip back to my new home & found my wife in the midst of boxes & furniture, trying to get our belongings in order. Though I’d been incredibly high on emotion just a short time earlier, it took only a few hours of unpacking to lose the feelings I’d experienced.
Maybe you’ve had a similar experience. I get many e-mails from students who’ve attended our PlanetWisdom conferences asking, “How can I keep my feelings after these special events?” But before we can answer that question, we need to understand the heart better.
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Let’s do an experiment right now. For 10 seconds I want you to feel happy. Do it now and then meet me in the next paragraph.
Good. Thanks for coming back. Now for part two – I want you to feel sad for 10 seconds, and then I’ll meet you in the next paragraph. Do it now – feel sad.
Don’t continue reading until you’ve tried both parts of the experiment. If you’re done, what happened? Did your feelings really change? You may have made different faces, either smiling or frowning, but my guess is your feelings didn’t change. That’s what makes feelings so fickle.
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There are probably lots of things you don’t “feel” like doing either. You see, the heart is deceitful. We don’t “feel” like doing the things we know we should do. And no matter what we try, we can’t seem to “make” the feelings happen.
What’s even worse is that instead of having feelings for the things I know I should do – the things that are good for me – I often have feelings for things that aren’t so good for me. So I find myself struggling with the desire to do destructive things in my life. Paul wrote about this struggle in Galatians 5:17 “For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.” (You’ll find similar description of Paul’s struggle in Romans 7:15-25)
That struggle raises an obvious question: Since I don’t seem to have the ability to influence my emotions, how can I get myself going in the right direction? Christian psychiatrist Dr. Frank Minirth, a friend of mine, once told me that feelings often follow behavior. So if you want to influence your feelings, you have to do something eve when you don’t initially feel like it.
That strategy rings true to my own life. I may not feel like going to church, but if I find that once I get off the couch & go, I really enjoy being there. Lots of times the church leaders leave me a set of church keys to lock up the place because I’m one of the last ones there! So when it comes to reading the Bible, I may not have the feelings to open it up, but once I do, I can hardly put it down.
I think a big part of our struggle to love God with all of our hearts is that we’ve become hooked on feelings, not realizing the heart is so much more. We’re told romantic love is an emotional thing. While there is an emotional aspect to it, it isn’t the deepest pat of desire & passion…
That doesn’t mean emotions aren’t important. My wife wouldn’t be happy if I didn’t have emotional feelings for her. It’s just that we now realize there’s much more to passions and desire. It’s the same with God. He wants us to have emotional feelings toward him, but he wants our love to run on deeper levels too.
You may be frustrated by your relationship with god because you can’t recapture the feelings you had at camp or conference. If so, you need to remind yourself that those special feelings are not the kind of heart love that sustains a relationship. When it comes to your relationship with God, rather than allowing your feelings to drive your actions, try taking action & see what happens to your feelings…
Excerpt from “What Does God Want From Me?” by Mark Matlock
