What's Happening in Your Heart?
Luann Budd
When I was a young believer, I was discipled. I was taught to make disciples. The focus was on studying the Word of God and praying for people, giving our money, serving in ministry in the church, and sharing our faith with others. As I was taught, I spent an hour a day in inductive Bible study, prayed through lists I kept in my journal, gave money, led the high school ministry, and brought neighbors together for a weekly Bible study. And several years later, after Kevin finished seminary, after we had three boys, after we spent years pouring our lives into pastoral ministry, we both had one burning question: Is this all there is to the Christian life?
Something was missing!
The way we had been discipled established a solid theological foundation, but it was incomplete. As many of us found, it left us focused on what was easy and external, while leaving unattended the weightier matters of the heart.
Over and over, Jesus teaches us we need to pay attention to the inward movements of the heart. True growth happens in our inner spiritual life (see Matthew 23).
What thoughts are taking place in your heart? Do you ever listen in?
Are you aware of how often you pass judgment or are being critical for “good reason,” or getting angry and yet feeling perfectly justified because of the rightness of your cause? Do you notice your own irritations, laziness, and distractions?
We may excuse or gloss over these things because we’re fine—we’ve had our devotions, gone to church, read the Bible, and prayed. We’re quite content. Or, like me, you may be sensing something isn’t right, but you’re not sure what.