Tools for the Heart (pt 1)

There’s an ancient saying, “What you sow you will reap.” It’s all about cause and effect.  The analogy is from agriculture. The farmer operates by this principle. He plants the grain. He provides the right conditions for the growing of the grain seeds. He cultivates the ground, plants the seeds, waters the plants, fertilizes as necessary, and then the natural forces of the earth take over and up comes the grain. And in the end, he harvests the plants.

The farmer never enjoys a harvest without first sowing the seeds. And if he sows rice seeds, he gets a rice harvest. If he sows wheat, he gets wheat. He never sows corn and harvests apple trees. What he sows, he reaps.

That’s a profound principle when it comes to spiritual growth and development. We have to take responsibility for sowing the seeds of the qualities we want to see grow and be harvested. If we want more love, we have to “plant” love. If we want peace, we must “plant” peace. As Gandhi famously said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” And then we have to cultivate the conditions most conducive to growing what we truly want to experience and manifest.

Here’s the way one New Testament passage describes this reality: “People harvest only what they plant. If they plant to satisfy their egos and self-centeredness, their egos will bring them ruin. But if they plant to please the Spirit, they will experience the divine eternal life from the Spirit. We must not become tired of doing good. We will receive our harvest of the divine eternal life at the right time if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:7, NCV) Notice this is about our willingness to “step into” the flow of the divine Spirit and Life. If we want to experience the realities of God we need to place ourselves in that environment, in those activities and places that nurture the qualities of God. We grow our hearts bigger by placing our hearts in God. It’s the law of agriculture and spirituality: you reap what you sow.

And even as the farmer uses specialized tools to do his work more effectively, we also have tools that grow our hearts, tools that when used place our hearts in God’s Flow of Life. Let’s look at a few.

Desire: Jesus described a significant tool for the heart: “Whatever is in your heart determines what you say.” (Luke 6:45, NLT) What is the tool? Desire. Passion. Longing. He said it another way, too: “Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be.” (Matthew 6:21, NLT)

The point is, the object of our desire, passion and longing (what we truly treasure and value) radically impacts our experience of life. So a very effective spiritual tool is to evaluate our desires. What do you long for often? Where is your deepest passion invested? What would you say your desires during the course of any given day say about you as a person? What you want out of life, what you truly value and think is important? We are wired to follow after our passion, desires and longings. That’s the power of the heart. So if you want a life characterized by depth, compassion, joy, peace—if you want more of these divine qualities in your life—than spend time desiring them. Place your focus on those qualities every day. Think about them. Read stories about people who manifest them. Talk about them. Allow your heart to feel them.

Here’s an interesting idea next time you have the remote control in your hand. If you’re watching a movie and you come to a scene that stimulates in your heart the qualities you desire, rewind that scene and play it again. Watch it carefully. Allow yourself to feel the desire, longing, passion for the divine qualities being manifested. Rewind it again and play it. Watch it. Feel it. Reflect on it. Talk about it with your partner or friend watching with you. Consider doing this throughout the whole movie, spending time focusing on the divine qualities being shown.

The point is, we must redirect our desires, passions, and longings to those qualities we truly want manifested in our lives, those divine characteristics that deepen and grow our hearts. So we have to practice feeling them, exposing ourselves to them, letting our hearts grow into them over and over again.

Perhaps this is why Jesus made the statement, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” (Matthew 5:6) Passion, desire and longing are being affirmed and blessed here. But not just any kind of desire. Jesus says the desire and passion for justice and right are what will be filled and blessed. He specifies the object of desire because he knows that we are wired to follow after what we long for. So make sure you’re longing for the best and the most good in life.