The Heart of the Matter

THE WHOLE MAN!

Spirit, Soul, Body, and the Heart

I think it is interesting that when God made man, He created us in His image.

Genesis 1:26

We know God is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—the three are one God.

Here is the interesting part: man is spirit, soul, and body—the three make up one man.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Now I want to deal with the HEART of man!

Where does the heart fit into man’s makeup?

The heart of man can sometimes be confusing. You may wonder, What is the heart of man, and where does it fit?

The heart plays a very important role in the makeup of man, and I will try to explain how it works.

Here is a simple illustration: the heart—not your physical heart—can be viewed like a filter between the spirit of man and the soul of man:

Spirit → Heart → Soul → Body

The heart receives the things of God that come through your spirit, and it also deals with the positive and negative things that affect your soul. You can receive or reject what comes to you. In that sense, the heart acts like a filter.

That is where Proverbs 4:23 comes into play:

“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.”

So you may ask, “How do I keep my heart with all diligence?”

God made a promise to us:

Ezekiel 36:26 KJV “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.”

AND THAT WAS ACCOMPLISHED WHEN WE BECAME BORN AGAIN!

When we became born again, we were given a heart of flesh—a heart responsive to God—and a new spirit, a new man in Christ Jesus!

Praise God!

We do not have to pray for God to do what He already promised to do. When we became born again, He gave us a heart of flesh and a new spirit. We were born from above!

See Romans 6:3–11.

The Bible has a lot to say about man’s heart.

Here are just a few verses:

Mark 7:20–23 NKJV “And He said, ‘What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.’”

Jeremiah 17:9 KJV “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”

Romans 10:10 KJV “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

The heart has a very big responsibility because it can accept or reject.

Proverbs 18:21 comes to mind when I read, “with the mouth confession is made.”

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue.”

With the heart, you can choose life or death, and your mouth will eventually reveal what is in your heart.

The heart indeed has a very big responsibility!

I suppose that is why the Bible tells us to keep our hearts with all diligence.

There is so much more to understand about the heart of man. When you begin to understand the heart and what it is capable of doing, you can better understand why the Bible tells us to guard it with diligence.

Diligence means steady, earnest, and energetic effort.

There can be much hidden in the heart. What is in the heart can become destructive when it is allowed to remain unchecked, because eventually what is in the heart comes out of the mouth.

But the heart can also allow the love of Jesus to flow from it and praises to rise to the Father!

Proverbs 20:27 “The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all the inner depths of his heart.”

The spirit and the heart of man are closely connected, and understanding that connection helps us better understand why God tells us to guard our hearts so carefully.

Remember to reread every lesson so you can fully understand the focus of the lesson.

Knowledge is freedom!