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Session 3
What are we
aiming for?
Targeting the Heart
I. The Biblical perspective on the heart
How does the Bible describe the
function of the heart?
- Who a person truly is
- The moral and spiritual center of your
being
I. The Biblical perspective on the heart
How does the Bible describe the
function of the heart?
- The heart is the center of rational and
spiritual life; the decision-making
and determining locus of a person
- The heart is the center of thought and
forming concepts
I. The Biblical perspective on the heart
How does the Bible describe the
function of the heart?
- The heart is the center of our
affections and desires
- The heart is the center of moral life,
and therefore the seat of sin within
man and the operative center of the
conscience
II. The importance of the heart
A. We are to guard (keep watch over,
protect, cultivate) our hearts,
because what goes on in the heart
determines our lives
II. The importance of the heart
B. One of the problems with how we
often address our internal struggles
is a radical separation between
heart, mind, spirit, etc.
II. The importance of the heart
C. We cannot separate the emotional
from the mental or spiritual.
These are linked together because
they all flow out of what is taking
place in our hearts.
III. Why do we do what we do?
A. James 4 and the problem of
desires
1. When we look at our lives, we
can often see conflict and
trouble. (4:1)
James says the root issue
behind these problems is our
desires.
III. Why do we do what we do?
2. The desires of our heart direct
our behavior (4:2).
It is very difficult to act
against your desires, and it is
impossible to act against your
most prominent desire.
III. Why do we do what we do?
3. Our desires our often sinful (4:3).
4. To supplant our desire to please
God with a desire for something
else is to commit spiritual
adultery (4:4-5).
5. The solution for our sinful desires
is to humble ourselves (4:6-10).
III. Why do we do what we do?
B. A model of the life of the heart
Human Heart
Human Heart
Desires
Motivations
Drives
Behavior
Behavior
State of Being
State of Being
Sadness
Thinking
Anxiety
Speaking
Joy
Acting
Peace
etc.
From Brent Aucoin, Faith Biblical Counseling Ministries
IV. Implications for ministry
- It is not enough to merely address
behavior.
- We must address the affections.
- I must find out what the person
wants.
IV. Implications for ministry
- Regeneration is a must.
- Christ must be seen as of ultimate
worth and beauty.
- The promises of god must be
known and believed.