Finding the Heart of Christ

The world does not understand theology or dogma, but it understands love and sympathy. – Dwight L. Moody

A hard concession to make to myself, as a man, is that love galvanizes me. Men are supposed to be aloof. My father, a great man, instilled in me the identity of a warrior. Not the brawling, fisticuff type of ruffian. But a man with a plan and the tenacity to see it through. That tenacity tended to create silos of emotion. It was a learned skill of compartmentalizing distractions. It was a way to cut through the clutter with a laser focus on achieving a goal. It was about making hard decisions. Winning was extending my ability and expectation. It conjures an image of always moving toward the fight, the fight being an obstacle or challenge, an obstruction. You run toward things, not away from things.

Somewhere my heart changed. I started to see the beauty in all of God’s creations. The outdoors morphed from a place to grow physically stronger to a place to experience creation. It was awe-inspiring, and at times emotionally overwhelming, to see what God had done. It started with the beauty of nature and slowly took over my being. We each became beautifully crafted images of God’s love.

Colossians 3:14 “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

Love binds everything, all our virtues, passion, and effort, into an unstoppable force for God’s kingdom. If what we are searching for is not rooted in love, then we need to hit the pause button. Paul wrote this eloquent passage to the Corinthians concerning the power of love.

1 Corinthians 13

“1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient; love is kind. It does not envy; it does not boast; it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others; it is not self-seeking; it is not easily angered; it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now, we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

You can’t fake it. People will see right through you if you try. You cannot seem all loving and caring one moment and distant and cold the next. Your purpose cannot be an activity that helps others. It has to be life-changing for both of you. “But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.” The echo that remains is love. The feeling of having loved and being loved is the most potent drug I know.

They say your eyes are the window of your soul. The other day I was listening to a speaker at a conference. The first part of the presentation was more about what and why. The second part was about how to apply the learning. There was an astounding transformation between the first and second parts. Her entire body language changed; her tone became softer. She became more relaxed and focused on the audience. Her body tilted toward them as she spoke of life-changing answered prayer. She connected with the people in the room. She had compassion for those who had not experienced what God can honestly do through prayer. It wasn’t just a passion for the topic but a love for the audience. She wanted good things for each of them.

1 John 4:19, “We love because He first loved us.”

When you make this connection, you will know God’s passion and purpose for you in life. Then, when you drive toward using your God-given resources to help people experience the love and joy of knowing Christ, you know you are on the right road. It is not enough that you can be successful in your chosen field; you have to want to be transformational. That is the purpose.

1 Corinthians 2:9 “However, as it is written: What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived — the things God has prepared for those who love him.”