The battle between the head and heart is a battle royal that we face daily. Although the heart and the mind are interconnected, the heart can influence the mind and the mind, or intellect, influence the heart. This is the core of worship.

The Head

The head refers to the mind of a person. It is associated with intellect, reasoning and understanding. It is the head that processes information, thinks critically and makes judgements.

The head loves the rites and ceremonies of religion, but it is the heart where the true spirituality lies. While the head gleans knowledge, it is the heart that comprehends the spiritual truths of God, for deep calls to deep, Psalm 42:7.

The Heart

The Bible speaks of the heart as the centre of one’s emotions, desires, and will. It is where God places the yearning for eternity and all things heaven-related.

God made man in His image, Genesis 1:27, with a heart and soul that was created to worship the Creator and to walk in a personal, covenantal relationship with God. You can’t know God with your head, for you must know Him first with your heart.

We are to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might, Deuteronomy 6:5, Mathew 22:37. The heart is the core of our spiritual life and can be interchanged with the word soul. It is where a person encounters God and responds to Him.

Desires

A W Tozer wrote The brain of man cries out for improvement but the heart cries out for everlastingness. The brain revels in every modern advancement which is temporal, while the heart says ‘that won’t satisfy’. A heart that is tuned into the Great I Am That I Am, Exodus 3:3, can never be satisfied with head knowledge.

Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart, Psalm 37:4. It is not just head knowledge that He fulfils, but to Solomon He gave a wise and discerning heart, 1 Kings 3:12. However, there was an ‘if’ to God’s fulfilment. Solomon was to walk in the ways of God and keep his commandments and statutes.

Solomon would later write, For as man thinks within himself, so he is, Proverbs 23:11. Only the heart knows the real you. Solomon would also write, Vanity of vanities. All is vanity, Ecclesiastes 1:2.

Warning

The natural state of the human heart is flawed and in need of transformation. The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick. Who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9. This is why sinful man must be born again, John 3:7.

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh, Ezekiel 36:26, 27. The prayer of the psalmist was Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me, Psalm 51:10.

Springs of Life

We are to watch over the heart with all diligence for from it flow the springs of life, Proverbs 4:23. God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart, 1 Samuel 17:7.

The life that is ruled only by the head is on a one-way road to eternal destruction. Civilization, religion, and everything man has devised, has only betrayed humanity. Buy a new phone and you can’t wait to get the more modern and updated version. Buy a new car and it loses its value the moment you drive it out of the car yard. Nothing man produces satisfies the true heart.

We have God’s promises, but the heart of man will never be satisfied until it reaches eternity and immortality. Adam knew nothing of death prior to his disobedience to God, Genesis 3. The tragedy was not that sin entered the entire human race, but that man lost the right to eternal life. The wages of sin is death, Romans 8:28, not just physically, but eternally. Jesus gave His life that man might be reinstated with a holy God and receive the promise of eternal life, John 3:16.

The Power

The organ of the heart is the most powerful source of electromagnetic energy in the human body. The heart’s electrical field is around 60 times greater than the electrical activity generated by the brain. However, each influences the other.

Both the head and the heart are an integral part of a person’s relationship with God and the world around them. The heart seeks God, but the mind can gain knowledge of who God is. The Bible calls for an alignment of both heart and mind to be submitted to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

The Battle

The battle between the heart and the head began in the Garden of Eden. The head and heart said stay with Eve and eat of the forbidden fruit. The heart needed fellowship with the Creator but yielded to the call of the flesh.

There have been many powerful head-led men and women who have provided great benefits to mankind. However, that same head that appreciates the gaining of knowledge, so often chooses to declare that God does not even exist. Head knowledge overrides the cry of the heart and makes man centre of the universe.

The daily cross of the true follower of Christ is the battle between the head and the heart. The head says one thing, while the heart, or sprit of man, yearns for the true things of God. As in any battle there can only be one winner, even though some are killed and many maimed. The challenge is the same as it was for the ancient Israelites. If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve, Joshua 24:15.

Photo Source

Dr. Wendy Stenberg-Tendys is a freelance writer who enjoys researching a topic and sharing words of encouragement from the Word of God.

Check out our other posts at Whispering Encouragement. We are here to inform and encourage. Subscribe for free so you can keep up to date with topics that interest you.

________________________Whispering Encouragement_______________________