the war in between

I can’t believe it’s February already!! Time literally flies by! Kicking off February with a new series. I’ve loved doing these little series and being able to dive deeper into these topics. This month I want to dive into what it means for our heart and mind to be in control. So often it seems like it has to be one or the other. But it doesn’t, and actually it shouldn’t be. 

In our walk with God, we often face this battle between what our head says and what our heart says. The majority of the time, you’re gonna get two different answers. Our head is going to be legalistic. It’s going to look at the facts of the situation. While our heart is going to make decisions guided by emotions. This battle can often leave you feeling confused and frustrated– I know I feel that way. 

So what do you do? Which one do you listen to? Well, the heart can mislead when not connected to the mind and the mind can mislead when not connected to the heart. So what am I saying? I’m saying that the two should work together. Throughout the life of Jesus, you can see how he used both his heart and his mind, and how they worked seamlessly together to create a spiritual walk that had both knowledge and passion. 

In Matthew 16, Peter rebukes Jesus after Jesus explains His plans to go to Jerusalem. Peter responds to Jesus by saying: 

“Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” 

Matthew 16:22

I can understand where Peter’s emotions are coming from. But that’s the key part– his emotions. He was letting his heart guide his actions. Peter was not connecting his emotions with the knowledge he has of Jesus’ purpose & on account of this, he is telling Jesus to forget His greater objective, death on the cross. 

Your head and your heart are constantly vying for control over your life. But if we let just one take control, we end up with actions that don’t always line up according to God’s word. Your logic isn’t always going to line up with the plan God has for you. Most of the time, His plan completely defies worldly logic (It’s wayyy better). So if you lead with only logic, you’ll miss out on the plan God has for you. 

Your emotions aren’t always going to lead you where you need to go either. You can’t make a decision rooted in anger, selfish desires, frustration, etc. We’re human, I get there will be times when a decision is made purely out of emotion. Trust me, I’ve done it. But oftentimes, it’s misled me. 

Throughout His life, Jesus shows us that our heads and our hearts are meant to work as two separate parts of one engine. Throughout the next three weeks, we’ll look more at what it looks like if you let one take control. 

“...serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind…” 

1 Chronicles 28:9