Listen to Our Hearts

People make many claims that they "know" a particular individual.

But the question that we should ask ourselves is this: Do we really?

What makes a person believe that they "know" a particular individual? Is it based off of seeing their actions in a continuous pattern? Is it because one can claim that they know was is important to them or knowing about them? Or is it because one claims to know their heart?

People may claim to know people based off of their actions. To some extent that may be true. After a certain period of history with an individual, one may begin to see the history of their patterns. However this is not full proof by any stretch of measure.

People can dictate their actions. Actions can mask the intents of true and open hearts.

As illustrated in Mathew 15:8 " 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me."

One may argue, well Christ is referring to the Pharisees. Of course it would be easy to spot people like these. And a counter to that readily should be "Can we really?"

Again we come back to square one and so let's throw out this statement for consideration.

One cannot truly know someone unless the individual knows that person's heart.

When someone knows someone it is because that person understands the person's heart. In a person's heart are motives, longings, etc.

As Mathew 6:21 states, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

The biggest compliment someone can receive from God, especially a Christian is illustrated by Luke.

Acts 13:22 After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: 'I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.'

We have heard the phrase "A man after my own heart." It's value is not to be undermined, but it reveals to us that a man whom speaks after God's own heart would know God much intimately and better than a person who doesn't seek after God's own heart.

There is nothing in the world that can know God fully. But getting to know God more is not a far fetched idea. Isn't that what the purpose of reading Scripture is?

Know Word, Know God. No Word, No God.

Furthermore this point is emphasized because David sought after God's heart. And if the claim is made that David knew God better than the average person, well it would not be far fetched to make the claim that it was because David was seeking him to understand or know his heart.

Therefore to truly know a person is to understand or have some type of grasp as to what an individual's heart is all about.

If one were to take away the t from the end of heart, it would be to hear. Sometimes to know someone, one may need to merely stop asking questions to probe but just listen.

Words are a great resource in communicating, but as illustrated by the last entry, far from being perfect.

In closing, there is a praise song in which the lyrics read "And words are not enough to tell you of our love, so listen to our hearts."

There's a reason why we have two ears and one mouth. We're suppose to listen twice as much as speak.

So maybe instead of claiming with our mouths that we know, maybe we can validate that we know by using our ears.