The Bible makes it clear that while we tend to judge people according to their external appearance, God is more interested in the heart. He searches people’s hearts and rewards them according to what He sees.
1 Samuel 16:7 “But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.’” 1
Proverbs 21:2 “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,
But the LORD weighs the hearts.”
1 Chronicles 28:9a “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts.”
Psalm 44:20-21
“If we had forgotten the name of our God,
Or stretched out our hands to a foreign god,
Would not God search this out?
For He knows the secrets of the heart.”
Jeremiah 17:10 “I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.”
The apostles prayed in Acts 1:24 “You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen”, while in Acts 15:8 Peter said, “So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us”
In 1 Thessalonians 2:4 Paul said of his apostleship, “But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts.”
Revelation 2:23 “…all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works.”
When the scriptures speak of “the heart” they are not referring merely to the physical organ that pumps blood around the body. Both the Hebrew word, lev, and the Greek word, kardia, are used to describe the inner core of a person, the centre of the personality. The heart is the point where the soul of a person (the mind, the will and the emotions) connects with their spirit.
So, it is in our heart that we think and make sense of the world around us. This is where our thoughts are formed, our attitudes determined and our intentions are conceived.
Proverbs 23:7 “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”
Matthew 9:4 “But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, ‘Why do you think evil in your hearts?’”
Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the Word of God discerns “the thoughts and intentions of the heart”. Psalm 19:14 talks about “the meditation of my heart” while Mark 2:8 and Luke 5:22 speak of “reasoning” in the heart.
The heart is also the seat of desires and emotions, as the following scriptures show:
John 14:1 “Let not your heart be troubled…”.
Proverbs 15:13 “A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, But by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.”
Deuteronomy 6:5 “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”
Psalm 4:7 speaks of “gladness” of heart and John 16:22 speaks of experiencing “joy” in the heart. Psalm 73:21 says, “My heart was grieved” while Proverbs 14:10 speaks of a heart that “knows bitterness”.
And the heart is also where we make decisions. Proverbs 16:9 tells us that “A man’s heart plans his way”, while in Daniel 1:8 we read that “Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself” with the food and wine of the king. In Acts 11:23 Paul encourages believers to continue with the Lord “with purpose of heart” and in 2 Corinthians 9:7 he commands each person to give “as he purposes in his heart”.
What we think and feel and decide in our hearts will determine our words and actions, many of which are evil.
Matthew 15:19 “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” (See also Mark 7:21-23.)
The Bible makes it clear that, since the Fall, men’s hearts are deeply flawed. Our mind, our will and our emotions have been polluted by sin
Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?”
Genesis 6:5 “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
Genesis 8:21 tells us that “the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth”, while Proverbs 6:14 says of a wicked man, “Perversity is in his heart”.
Unregenerate man is blind to his fallen condition and often tries to please God through his own good works. God hates such futile religion because it is not a matter of the heart.
Isaiah 29:13 “Therefore the Lord said: ‘Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths And honour Me with their lips, But have removed their hearts far from Me, And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men…’”
Luke 16:14-15 “Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him. And He said to them, ‘You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.’”
Matthew 23:27-28 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”
Jesus knew the fallen condition of men’s hearts.
John 2:24-25 “But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.”
It is clear that we cannot cure ourselves. We need heart transformation.
Psalm 51:6,10 “Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom. Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.”
When we accept Christ, and are born again of the Spirit, God puts a new heart in us that is sensitive to Him and instinctively knows His law.
Ezekiel 36:26 “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”
Hebrews 10:16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them…”
Those of us who love the Lord will invite Him to examine our hearts and show us if there is anything in us that is not pleasing to Him.
Psalm 26:2 “Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; Try my mind and my heart.”
Psalm 139:23-24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.”
And we will choose to direct our hearts towards the Lord and keep them fixed on Him.
Ezra 7:10 “For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the LORD, and to do it…”
2 Chronicles 12:14 “And he (Rehoboam) did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek the LORD.
Psalm 57:7 “My heart is steadfast, (fixed) O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and give praise.”
Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding…”
Proverbs 4:23 “Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.”
God’s greatest concern is the condition of our hearts.
Psalm 19:14 “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.”
1 All scriptures are taken from the NKJV, emphases mine.
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