Getting to the Heart of the Issue
The secular counseling world is full of hundreds upon hundreds of forms of counseling, each with its own unique perspective on how to address the human condition. While evidence-based therapies such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy are both scientifically endorsed and empirically proven to be effective, many fall prey to the same weaknesses and shortcomings in understanding human function. That is to say, most forms of counseling and therapy identify, address and correct symptoms of human behavior, without ever examining the deeper questions of why we do what we do. Consider Romans 7:15-17 where Paul writes, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.” Paul recognizes this human issue with very straightforward language, begging the question, why do I do what I do? Perhaps the answer lies in the question postulated by the prophet Jeremiah in the book of Jeremiah when he asks, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)
The truth is most modalities of counseling and theories of psychology examine and attempt to correct human behavior but rarely do they address that below that behavior is a heart that is desperately sick and in need of a savior. We often look to external sources as explanations for our behaviors, take for example issues surrounding anger. We might be tempted to say, “I’m angry because of my boss, he’s short-tempered, treats me unfairly, and never gives me credit for my work.” Those examples may all be true, but is my boss really the reason I’m angry? After all, how much control can I exert in changing the attitude and behavior of my boss? Perhaps we might look closer to home and say, “I’m angry because my work stress translates into not sleeping well at night, I toss and turn but my stress keeps me from a good night’s sleep.” Now we step closer to the problem, but yet again, I have focused on the issue being something outside of my own locus of control. Here in this example, the boss was to blame for my anger and now perhaps my boss causing my lack of sleep. But if we dig just a bit deeper, and ask a profoundly important question, we may discover that the issue lies within my heart. Perhaps we should ask instead, “What is it within my own heart that is sick?” Is it possible that my anger actually derives from an issue of my own sense of identity, seeking fulfillment from others’ approval rather than from God, and that a less-than-ideal boss simply brought that heart issue to the surface? The truth is we are not quick to point to ourselves or our own hearts as the root cause of any issue, and we tend to be far more comfortable placing blame on external sources (my boss, my spouse, my income, my possessions, etc).
The heart is a deeply important concept for us to comprehend as we seek meaningful change in life. The very essence of who we are as humans might be understood as a heart that bears the image of its creator, that is made sick by sin and separation from God, and made whole in its reunification with its designer. As the prophet Jeremiah points out, the heart is challenging to understand, and yet he exclaims that God himself judges the heart of man. Our hearts drive our very person, and most often, they lead us back to a sense of self-fulfillment, self-service, self-righteousness, and self-love. It is for this very reason that we are quick to judge others by their actions but ourselves by our intent. Our hearts seek to fulfill what we want, when we want it, and become increasingly frustrated when we do not get our way. The human heart is sick, made ill by the effects of sin in humanity, and ever seeking self-fulfillment, yet always unfulfilled by its own actions. This hampster wheel that our hearts run in, constantly seeking what we want and never feeling fulfilled, is the very explanation for many of our frustrating behaviors. Understanding that our hearts are active participants in our lives, rather than passive observers, is crucial to grasp as we seek to grow in wisdom and knowledge.
The human heart is indeed active as it pursues anything and everything that it deems desirable. As humans, we can turn virtually anything into an idol and when we do, we pursue these idols with our time, energy, thoughts, passions, and of course, money. If you ever wondered what it is your heart truly desires, ask yourself a few questions about your investments:
Where do I spend my free time each week?
Where do I invest my money that is not already set aside for bills?
What do I worry about most?
What am I unwilling to give up in my life?
Whatever the answer to these questions, it is likely the thing your heart pursues. Robert Robertson perhaps stated it best when he penned the lyrics to the hymn Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing wherein he comes to the following conclusion,
Oh, to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be.
Let thy goodness like a fetter
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it.
Prone to leave the God I love.
Here’s my heart, oh take and seal it
seal it for thy courts above.
The author here understood the active role of the human heart and its propensity to chase after each next thing that comes our way. In recognizing this he asks God for the one thing he can imagine would fix this issue, for God himself to bind/chain/tie our very hearts to Him lest they wander away again.
If indeed the human heart is at the core of who we are, and why we are what we are, then the conclusion we must draw is to better understand our own hearts. What do they pursue? What do they desire? What lengths will they go to in order to seek fulfillment? Understanding the human heart is the best place to begin a journey of seeking lasting change, as we submit our hearts before the Lord and allow his grace to change them through an intimate and everlasting relationship with Him.
