What Does the Bible Say about the Heart?

When you think about the human heart from a physical perspective, the heart is central to life. Your entire life is a byproduct of a beating heart. One of the ways they check to see if a person is still alive is by checking their pulse, which is proof of a beating heart and evidence of life.

To put it another way when the heart goes you go and when the heart stops you stop. Ironically there are some similarities between the physical heart and the spiritual heart. As the physical heart is central to life and living, the spiritual heart is central to every aspect of your life. When the Bible speaks about the heart it is really referring to the mind, will, and emotions.

Every choice you make, every decision you make, everything you do flows out of what is in your heart. That’s why the Bible gives us scriptures like these.

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. – Proverbs 4:23

As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart. – Proverbs 27:19

A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart. – Luke 6:45 (NLT)

As you can see the heart is central to everything you do and more importantly it is a true reflection of who you are. Since the heart reflects what is inside you, if you don’t like what you see on the outside then you must recognize that the problem is on the inside. When you change the heart, you will change the person.

Is the Human Heart Evil?

To answer this question notice what the Bible says about the heart.

The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? – Jeremiah 17:9 (NLT)

A truth that lots of people don’t necessarily want to acknowledge is that the hearts of men are evil. Many people like to champion the human heart and will even assume that most people have a good heart, however the Bible says something completely different. The reason our hearts are evil is connected to how we were conceived. The Psalmist writes 

Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. – Psalm 51:5

This is how we all enter the world, born and conceived in sin. Because we are all born with a sinful nature this is what shapes the heart and contributes to what we say, think, feel, and do. That’s why if the heart is not transformed by the power of God, it will remain deceitful and desperately wicked

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There are so many verses to help you get a full picture of what the Bible says about the heart. For space’s sake I will limit the verses I share. The goal is to give you perspective on the way the human heart works. As you read them see how the mention of the heart refers to either the mind, will, or emotions.

The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. – Genesis 6:5

We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. ¹¹ When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. – Joshua 2:10-11

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. – Matthew 6:21

Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? – Matthew 9:4

For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. ²⁰ These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them. - Matthew 15:19-20

As you can see the Bible clearly intertwines the heart with the mind, emotions, and will. 

Why Does the Bible Say to "Guard your Heart"?

Earlier I mentioned this verse in Proverbs.

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. – Proverbs 4:23

What does this mean to guard your heart and why are we instructed to do it? To guard the heart means to protect it and watch over it. You could almost think of it as being the warden or prison guard and your heart is in solitary confinement. The prison guard must watch over everything that comes into that prisoner.

The reason we are instructed to do this is because the heart shapes or is the catalyst for everything we do. That’s why what we fill our hearts and minds with is so important. It is a very natural progression that whatever you fill your heart with will eventually show up in your actions. It’s the reason why Paul’s instruction in Philippians is so important.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. – Philippians 4:8

Whatever you spend time thinking about and consuming is going to shape the direction of your life. So be careful about the voices you choose to listen to because they are conditioning your heart and it won’t be long before what is inside will eventually come out.

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With the heart being so critical to everything we do should we listen to our hearts? The answer is yes, but let me clarify. If define listening as an acknowledgment of what is in there, then yes you should listen to your heart. In listening God can reveal what is in your heart so you can deal with it appropriately.

If by listening to you mean you should follow what is in your heart then that answer is, it depends. The most important thing to do when it comes to anything in your heart is to run it through the filter of God’s Word and God’s Spirit. It is okay to ask God to search your heart (Psa. 139:23-24) and reveal what is in there.

When he has filtered it out then you can listen to what is there. Another reason this is important is because God will often speak to our hearts. Remember the heart is the seat of your mind, will, and emotions and since it is the place where your decisions are made from you must listen to it. Just make sure to guard and filter so you are listening to the right influences.

Because God knows our heart and how connected it is to everything we do, that is why at salvation he gives us a new heart.

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. – Ezekiel 36:26-27

This verse shows you how truly amazing God really is. God knows the heart is central to everything we do, so he fills our heart with his Spirit which eventually will shape the actions we take and the decisions we make. Once we are saved our responsibility is to learn to yield more and more of our hearts to the Holy Spirit and as we do we will see more and more of his life coming out in ours.

Hearts that have been impacted, influenced, and shaped by the Holy Spirit will produce lives that are impacted and shaped by him as well. We know this is true based on what the Bible tells us about the heart…everything you do flows out of it. 

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