We are told, by pastors, by lifelong Christians, and by the Bible itself, that life as a follower of Jesus is supposed to be rich and full. In John 10:10 Jesus says:
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10, ESV)
Not just life, but life abundantly. Jesus calls His followers not to a dour, miserable existence that squashes our human potential, but to a rich, full, joyful life, overflowing with meaningful purpose under the personal favor and blessing of God.
And yet, so often Christians seem just as unhappy as everyone else. Just as likely to divorce, to struggle with addiction, depression, or illness. Where is the disconnect?
The story of your life is, in part, the story of a long assault on your heart. God treasures the human heart, so the Enemy has made it one of his main targets. Among his most effective strategies is getting us to believe that our hearts are fundamentally evil at the core and cannot be trusted.
Understanding and engaging the spiritual battle for our hearts matters deeply. But before we can guard something, we need to know what it is. The Bible talks about the heart over 800 times. It clearly matters to God. But what exactly is it? And why should you care?
Read 1 Thessalonians 5:23 (ESV)
You Are a Three-Part Being: Spirit, Soul, and Body
Paul’s closing words in 1 Thessalonians make the structure clear:
“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23, ESV)
Paul explains what he means by “wholly,” or our whole being: spirit, soul, and body. The order matters. God works from the inside out, beginning with the spirit. Daniel makes the same distinction:
“I, Daniel, was grieved in my spirit within my body, and the visions of my head troubled me.” (Daniel 7:15, ESV)
Three distinct parts. We recognize that spirit and body are different. But you may not have realized that your spirit and your soul are also two different things.
Your spirit is what makes humans unique from all other living creatures. Genesis 2:7 tells us that God “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.” The Hebrew word for spirit, ruach, literally means wind, breath, or moving air. God instilled a spirit in humans, something He did not do with the other creatures.
When a person accepts Jesus Christ and is born again, the Holy Spirit comes to live within your spirit. First Peter 1:23 says you have been “born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God.” Once the Holy Spirit indwells your spirit, it is perfectly pure and holy, incapable of sin. This is the bridge God created between us and Him, spanning the gap created by sin.
Your soul is your mind. It is the center of your thinking, knowledge, consciousness, and will. You learn with your soul. You remember with your soul. You make decisions with your soul.
Unlike your spirit, which is made perfect when you become a Christian, your soul is not perfected instantaneously. It becomes more and more pure over time through the process of sanctification. Romans 12:2 says:
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2, ESV)
The renewing of your mind is never complete. You will still be learning things about God until the day you depart this world.
Your body is the envelope, the covering, that contains your spirit and your soul. It is of this world and most susceptible to sin. It will not be made perfect until it is replaced with a new and incorruptible version in eternity.
To summarize: as a Christian you have a perfected spirit (past tense), a perfecting soul (present tense), and in the future you will have a perfect and incorruptible body.
Discussion
- Had you ever considered the distinction between your spirit and your soul? What difference does it make?
- What does it mean practically that your spirit is already perfected, but your soul is still being renewed?
Key Takeaways
- You are spirit, soul, and body. These are three distinct parts, not interchangeable terms. God works from the inside out, starting with the spirit.
- Your spirit is already made perfect. The moment you accept Christ, your spirit is recreated, pure and holy. That is settled.
- Your soul is a work in progress. Sanctification is a lifelong process. The renewing of your mind never finishes this side of eternity.
You Have a Heart
The Bible speaks extensively about the heart. When God chose David through the prophet Samuel, we see what God cares about most:
“For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7, ESV)
What does the Bible say the heart is? We could spend weeks on this, but here are seven features of the heart as Scripture describes it.
1. Thoughts: the center of reasoning. Mark 2:8 tells us that Jesus perceived what the Pharisees “reasoned within themselves” in their hearts. Proverbs 23:7 says, “As he thinks in his heart, so is he.”
2. Affections: what and whom we love. Matthew 22:37 commands us to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”
3. Desires: what your heart longs for. Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.”
4. Visions and dreams: the boundaries that determine how far you will go. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.”
5. Motives: your true intentions. Proverbs 21:2 says, “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts.”
6. Concerns: your worries and burdens. Luke 21:34 warns, “Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life.”
7. Conscience: your moral center. Hebrews 10:22 speaks of “having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience.” And Jesus himself said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8).
Notice that the heart is not necessarily good. It can have positive and negative traits, good and evil within. We can have righteous dreams or wicked ones (Proverbs 6:18). We can carry rightful concern or be weighed down with destructive worry (Proverbs 25:20, Luke 21:34).
Furthermore, the heart can be divided. In Hosea 10:2, God says of Israel, “Their heart is divided.” And David prays in Psalm 86:11, “Unite my heart to fear your name,” which implies his heart could be pulled in different directions.
Discussion
- Which of these seven features of the heart stands out to you most? Why?
- What does it mean to have a divided heart?
Key Takeaways
- The heart is the whole of who you are on the inside. It includes your thoughts, affections, desires, dreams, motives, concerns, and conscience.
- The heart is not automatically good. It can contain both good and evil, and it can be divided.
- God looks at the heart. People see the outside. God sees what drives you from within.
How Your Heart Relates to Spirit, Soul, and Body
Your heart is your whole inner person. It comprises both your spirit and your soul. Your heart resides within your body, which is your outer person. Peter makes this distinction when he writes:
“Let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.” (1 Peter 3:4, ESV)
Peter equates the heart to the hidden, or inner, person. Then he says the inner person includes the spirit. The word “with” tells us the spirit is part of, but not equal to, the heart. And he describes that spirit as incorruptible, the same perfected spirit we discussed earlier.
Proverbs 3:5 shows the distinction from the other side:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5, ESV)
Here we see the distinction between the heart and the soul (the mind, the seat of understanding). The words “all your heart” tell us that your mind is only a part of your heart. The verse is telling us to trust with our whole inner person, which includes both spirit and soul.
So the picture is simple: your heart is your inner person. It contains your spirit and your soul. Your body is your outer person.
Discussion
- Why does it matter that the heart includes both the spirit and the soul?
- How does Proverbs 3:5 help clarify the relationship between your heart and your mind?
Key Takeaways
- Your heart is your whole inner person. It is not identical to your spirit or your soul alone. It encompasses both.
- Spirit and soul are distinct parts of the heart. One is perfected, the other is being perfected. That tension is at the core of the Christian life.
The Divided Heart and the United Heart
Now it becomes clear what the Bible means by a divided heart versus a united heart. Your heart comprises your spirit and your soul. When your soul (your mind) agrees with your spirit (which is perfect and holy, in perfect agreement with God), then your heart is united. When your soul chooses to follow the ways of the world, your heart is divided.
This is why the Bible puts so much emphasis on the mind. Your spirit is secure, recreated by God, beyond the Enemy’s reach. But if Satan can get your mind to choose sin, the ways of the world, contrary to the Word of God, then your heart is divided, and your perfect, holy spirit is rendered powerless.
Jesus said:
“Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.” (Mark 11:23, ESV)
There is serious power when we do not “doubt in our heart.” True belief is lining up our souls with our spirits. When you doubt God’s Word, your mind is trying to listen to your spirit and to the world at the same time. If you are trying to go in two directions at once, you will not go anywhere.
James puts it plainly:
“For the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:6-8, ESV)
So how do we avoid being double-minded? Hebrews gives the answer:
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12, ESV)
The answer lies in the Word of God. Your soul is ever-changing. You will have doubts in your mind, but you do not have to entertain them, welcome them, or hold on to them. You can cast them out. How? By renewing your mind regularly to line up with your spirit. How? By spending time with God and His Word. The more time you spend in the truth, the more mature your soul becomes, and the easier it is to align with your spirit and have a united heart.
Hebrews 4:12 also paints an intriguing analogy. Joints are compared to your soul, and marrow to your spirit. Just as joints hinge bones together and enable them to move, your soul hinges your body to your spirit and enables your whole self to act. If the Lord prompts you through the Holy Spirit to act in love, your mind must make a decision before your body can carry out the action.
And just as marrow produces blood (the source of biological life), your spirit within your body is the source of true, everlasting life, enabling you to experience the life God gives.
Discussion
- In what areas of your life do you feel the pull of a divided heart?
- What role does the Word of God play in uniting your heart?
Key Takeaways
- A united heart is a soul aligned with the spirit. When your mind agrees with the perfected spirit within you, you move with power and clarity.
- A divided heart is a soul following the world. Double-mindedness makes you unstable. You cannot go in two directions at once.
- The Word of God is the sword that unites the heart. Time in Scripture renews the mind. The more your soul is shaped by truth, the more naturally it aligns with your spirit.
Something to Sit With
You have a heart. It is the hidden person, the whole of who you are on the inside. Your spirit is already made new. Your soul is still choosing.
The question is not whether you have a heart. The question is whether it is united or divided.
Where is your mind pulling away from what your spirit already knows to be true?
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Bible mean by “heart”?
The Bible uses the word “heart” over 800 times to refer to the whole inner person. It is not just emotions or feelings. According to Scripture, the heart includes your thoughts (Mark 2:8), affections (Matthew 22:37), desires (Psalm 37:4), motives (Proverbs 21:2), concerns (Luke 21:34), and conscience (Hebrews 10:22). It is the center of who you are.
What is the difference between spirit, soul, and body in the Bible?
First Thessalonians 5:23 identifies three distinct parts of a person: spirit, soul, and body. The spirit is the innermost part, made perfect and holy at the moment of salvation. The soul is the mind, the center of thinking, knowledge, and will, which is renewed over time through sanctification. The body is the outer covering, which will be made perfect only in eternity.
What does it mean to have a divided heart?
A divided heart occurs when your soul (mind) is pulled in a different direction from your spirit. Your spirit, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, is in agreement with God. But when your mind follows the ways of the world instead, your heart is split. James 1:8 calls this being “double-minded,” and says such a person is “unstable in all his ways.”
How do you guard your heart according to the Bible?
Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” Guarding your heart means being intentional about what influences your mind. Romans 12:2 calls for the renewing of your mind. Hebrews 4:12 tells us the Word of God is what pierces to the division of soul and spirit. Regular time in Scripture and prayer is the primary way to guard and unite your heart.
Is the heart good or evil according to the Bible?
The heart can contain both good and evil. Jeremiah 17:9 says the heart is “deceitful above all things.” Yet Ezekiel 36:26 promises God will give us “a new heart.” For the Christian, the spirit within the heart is made new and holy, but the soul is still being sanctified. The heart’s condition depends on whether the soul is aligned with the spirit or following the world.
What does “blessed are the pure in heart” mean?
In Matthew 5:8, Jesus says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” A pure heart is a united heart, one where the soul is aligned with the perfected spirit. It does not mean sinless perfection, but a wholehearted orientation toward God, with motives, desires, and thoughts increasingly shaped by His truth.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway.