My heart - or control center - part 1

THE HEART OF ME - The human heart is the executive center of a human life. This is where decisions and choices are made. Heart, spirit, and will refer to the same fundamental component of the person, but they do so under different aspects. 

Will refers to that component’s power to initiate, to create, to bring about what did not exist before. 

Spirit refers to its fundamental nature as distinct from physical reality. 

And heart refers to its position in the human being, as the center or core to which every other component of the self owes its proper functioning. This heart or will or spirit interacts with the six basic aspects of individual human beings. 

Thoughts (images, concepts, judgments, inferences) 

Feelings (sensations, emotions) 

Choice (will, decisions, character) Body (actions, interaction with the physical world) 

Social context (personal and structural relations to others) 

Soul (the factor that integrates all of the above to form one life) 

David the psalmist, speaking of his own experience, said, I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. I keep the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure. (Psalm 16:7-9, NRSV) 

The ideal is for the whole person to do only what the heart directs. Spiritual formation in Christ is the process leading to that ideal, and its result is love of God with all of the heart, soul, mind, and strength and love of neighbor as oneself. Each aspect or dimension of the person will be a source of weakness or strength to the whole person, depending on the condition it is in. The condition it is in will depend on the heart. 

A person who is prepared and capable of responding to the situations of life in ways that are good and right is a person whose soul is in order, under the direction of a well-kept heart, in turn under the direction of God.

Johnson, Jan; Willard, Dallas (2014-01-31T22:58:59). Renovation of the Heart in Daily Practice: Experiments in Spiritual Transformation (Redefining Life) . The Navigators. Kindle Edition. 

 

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