This word appears approximately 120 times in the New Testament. Looking up references to “heart” in a concordance, gives the following contexts:
- faith of the heart
- unbelief or doubting in the heart
- deceitfulness or evil comes from the heart
- hardness of heart
- steadfastness of heart
- singleness of heart
- Mary pondered things in her heart
- Paul says: I have you in my heart
- our hearts might condemn us
- sin in the heart
- we can deceive our own heart
- being pricked in their hearts
- being cut to the heart
- purity of heart
- understanding with the heart
- to say in our heart
- to decree in our heart
- the thoughts and intents of the heart
- the purposes of the heart
- an open heart to hear
- the good treasure of the heart
- I AM meek and lowly of heart, Jesus said
- in the heart of the earth
- Love the Lord your God with all your
heart, mind, and soul.
Surprisingly, only once does heart refer to love (there are 2 gospel writers who record it). The heart - kardia does not seem to be involved mainly with emotion or affection, but rather mainly having to do with the core part of our soul, that which filters input from
a) outside sources, as well as b) our thoughts, c) our desires, from the flesh, and d) leadings from the spirit, both good and evil spirits - and coalesces them all into decisions and deeds.
Or if it is a “divided heart” and cannot decide, the results are inaction, indecisiveness and inability to commit to faith in God.
From the concordance references, “heart” has to do with understanding, unity, commitment, faith, receiving from and believing in God; it is a core condition of godliness (or ungodliness) that should be kept unmixed.
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