Heart

Aidan chose to keep real plants over fake plants because he wanted the real thing. Dirt, maintenance, loss, all of it.

Mark 12:28-30 NLT

[28] One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” [29] Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. [30] And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’
https://bible.com/bible/116/mrk.12.28-30.NLT

Aidan group made a mind map about what makes up who they are.

What is the center of your life? You would likely say your heart.

There are a couple Hebrew and Greek words that get translated to heart.

Proverbs 27:19 NLT

[19] As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person.
https://bible.com/bible/116/pro.27.19.NLT

Important

You are what you love

"Whatever captures the heart's trust and love also controls the feelings and behavior. What the heart most wants, the mind finds reasonable, the emotions find valuable, and the will finds doable."

"Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also"

Will

Desires

What we desire is what we find ourselves gravitating toward without much effort.

Affections

What stirs our heart and moves us.

Motivations

Our convictions. Our moral compass.

1. Guarding your heart

Proverbs 4:23 NLT

[23] Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
https://bible.com/bible/116/pro.4.23.NLT

The heart is a door into our inner life.
It goes both ways.

What we pay attention to shapes our heart.

Often instead of enjoying the things God has given us, we put them at the center of everything. We put way too much weight on them.

"A characteristic of the heart as the center of man is its inherent openness to outside impulses and its propensity to give itself to a master because we are not the source of our own life. Rather, we are dependent creatures who by nature look outside ourselves for life. What the heart takes in also becomes its master, stamping the heart with its character. At creation, God was the center of Adam and Eve's life, and they naturally took His character. The heart of humankind was never designed by God to function as the master.

The heart itself can become our master.
"Follow your heart"

Our hearts can be like a small child, naturally moving toward dangerous things, not knowing how dangerous they are. Like a baby to electrical outlets.

You must guard your heart, because from it flows the wellspring of life.

2. Stirring your heart

Sometimes we say "man I just don't feel anything!"

But who cares whether you feel it or not?

"A great part of the disaster of contemporary life lies in the fact that it is organized around feelings. People nearly always act on their feelings. And think it only right. The will is then left at the mercy of circumstances that evoke feeling. Christian spiritual formation today must squarely confront this fact and overcome it."
-Dallas Willard

Often, what drives our life is the circumstances we find ourselves in.

We need to stir our heart towards Christ, even if we don't feel something right now.

Psalms 16:7-11 NLT

[7] I will bless the Lord who guides me; even at night my heart instructs me. [8] I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. [9] No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety. [10] For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave. [11] You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.
https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.16.7-11.NLT

How do we stir our hearts?

Experience

Jesus is a living God that we interact with. Not just a theory or an idea.

Paul prays that we go from knowledge to experience.

Have we stepped into a situation where we allowed God to work?

Don't just pray, don't just throw money, go step in and work alongside Jesus. Serve. Have conversations.

Some of us haven't experienced the weight of forgiveness because we don't think we're that bad.

Awe and Wonder

Don't forget to look up at the stars. Be reminded of the greatness of who God is.

Watch a sunrise.

We think we can figure out the "why" of everything, and it has robbed us of wonder.

Ask someone to share their story of faith. See how God is moving in people's lives.

People who live by the ocean often rarely go, because the wonder has worn off.

We must cultivate wonder and awe.

Gratitude

Our future is secure despite whatever is happening in the news.

Often I met expectations can devolve into entitlement and cynicism.

Invitation

Psalms 139:23-24 NLT

[23] Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. [24] Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.139.23-24.NLT

Pray "Come Lord Jesus".

Introspection and Reflection

We need to slow down and create moments of reflection.

Ask God "Why?"

Instead of praying about a pattern, ask God "Why have I fallen into this pattern?"

Confession

Call your sin what God calls it.

Repentance

Now turn from your sin.

Pay with God and build your life so that your old patterns and habits die.

3. Giving him your heart

The story of Scripture and life is selfish desires causing all sorts of problems.

Through the resurrection of Jesus, God offers us a new heart.