Title Knowing Yourself
Content br> One quotation goes like this, “The heart of all problems is the problem of the heart”. When the Bible refers to the heart, what does it mean? Our problem today is that in the English language, it usually refers to the heart as the symbol or our emotion; and so, we associate the heart with emotion. Examples: “My heart cries for you”, “I love you with all my heart”.
But in Hebrew, this was not the case. The heart is simply the core of our being. It is that part of us which “knows, thinks and feels”. Prov. 23:7 says “for as he thinketh in his hear, so is he”. So the heart is really the equivalent of the mind. That means that you can only love God in the sense that you know God or know about him. Also, in Hebrew, the heart basically referred to two organs of the body: the bowels and the heart.
• The Bowls
In the Bible, it refers to the womb, the stomach, and the intestines. It is a general term for the gut.
 Psalms 22:14 – In other words, my whole abdominal area is upheaval. They will always say what they felt.
 Song of Solomon 5:4 – The term ‘bowels’ here refers to the arousal of sexual desire in the human body.
 Lamentations 2:11 – In other words, : I feel in my gut. I have pain in my stomach”. The Hebrews expressed their emotions in terms of the psychosomatic symptoms, not in terms of abstraction.
 1 John 3:17
Now, notice in those verses that ‘bowels’ are always responding. They responded to pain (Ps. 22:14). They responded to sex (Song of Solomon 5:4), disaster (Lamentations 2:11), and human need in 1 John 3:17. So in the Hebrew mind, the bowels always refer to that which respond—emotion.
• The Heart
 Rev. 2:23 – What is the heart for them? This passage says that the heart is the place of responsibility.
 Jer. 17:9 and Ezekiel 36:26 – The heart is the seat of responsibility.
 Rev. 18:7 – “She saith in her heart,” In other words, she thought in her mind. What then does the heart picture? Not the emotion but the mind. And this mind is made up of two things: the will and the intellect.
 Ps. 14:1 – It doesn’t say “the fool hated in his brain,” Why? Because the heart was the seat of thought.
The heart then represents the pace setting mind and the bowels represent the responding emotions.
I. THE SECRET OF CONTROLLING YOUR EMOTION
Always remember, our emotions never initiate, they always respond. The heart thinks and the emotion responds. That is the divine pattern. When someone says “I cannot control my emotion,” their problem is not an emotional one, but a mental one. Our emotions are only responders to the initiation of the mind.
The key to controlling your emotions is to fill your mind with divine truth. Our emotions responds to what the mind perceives as true even if it is not true. Don’t even trust them (Jer. 17:9-10). The only way to control your emotion is to make sure that your mind is filled with divine truth. Emotions are like bad little children, they will run amuck if you do not control them.
• How can I control my emotions?
You can control them indirectly by controlling your mind. 2 Cor. 6: 11-12 says that the Corinthians had put up an emotional barrier against Paul in such a way that they couldn't receive truth from him. When emotions get ahead of the mind, you’re going to have a lot of problem. Example: If a student has something personal against the teacher, he won’t learn anything because he put his emotions in front of the truth. This will block the truth.
The key to behavior and the key to the control of emotion is the heart (mind). We need to plant the truth of God in our mind so that it will control our emotional response.
 Prov. 4:23 – Keep (guard) thy heart (mind). If you want to control your life, guard your mind and don't let anybody mess your life.
 Prov. 23:19 – “Guide thine heart (mind)”
 Deut. 4:9 – Don't forget the truth. Guard your heart.
 Ps. 139: 23-24
 Mat. 12:35 – All the goodness will come out of the mind because it guides the pattern of behavior.
 Mat. 15:19 – All God things come out of the thinking process as well. The Bible tells us to guard our thinking process.
II. THE SUCCES OF GUARDING YOUR THOUGHT
Now that we are Christians, it is normal for us to have a victorious life. But most of us, we are still struggling with the same thoughts and feelings we did before we became Christians.
When we are still without Jesus Christ in our lives, we don’t have the presence of God in our lives or the knowledge of His ways. Because of this, we learned to live our lives independently of God. This learned independence from God is the major characteristic of what the Bible calls ‘the flesh’. Now, when we became Christian, everything we learned before Christ is still recorded in our memory. We still learned and know many ways to cope with life or defend ourselves. Psychologists refer to these patterns of living as defense mechanism. Many people learn to lie in order to protect themselves.
 Denial – subconscious or conscious refusal to face the truth
 Fantasy – escaping from reality of the real world
 Blaming others – others is always wrong but not yourself
 Rationalization – making excuses for poor behavior
Defense mechanisms are similar to what Paul says in 2 Cor. 10:4c “strongholds” (fortress). Strongholds are fleshly thoughts of patterns that were program into your mind when you learned to live your life without God. When we become Christians, our fleshly habit patterns of thought were not erased.
Now, what was learned has to be unlearned. If we are trained wrong, can we be retrained? Yes. Can our minds be reprogrammed? Yes. That is what repentance is for, a change of mind. We are transformed by the renewing of our mind (Rom. 12:1-2). We can be transformed because we now have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16) and because we have the Holy Spirit who will lead us into all the truth (John 16:13)
Now, Satan’s aim is always to infiltrate our thoughts with his thoughts; to promote his lies in the face of God’s truth. Satan knows that if he controls our thoughts, he can control our lives (Prov. 23:7). In other words, you don’t do anything without first thinking of it. All behavior is the product of what we choose to think and to believe.
Trying to change our behavior without first changing what we believe or think, will never produce any lasting result.
III. THE STRENGHTHENING OF THE MIND (ROM. 12:2)
In John 14:16,26, the word ‘comforter’ here refers to the Holy Spirit. From Greek word ‘parakaleo’ always come with it the idea of comfort, courage and strength (Eph. 6:22; 2 Thes. 2:17). The Holy Spirit is given by God the Father to help us Christians living in this world. He is the source of a strong mind (Eph. 3:16)
Steps to a Strong Mind:
1. The Illustrations
Paul is perfect illustration of someone who began to be strengthened immediately after he was converted (Acts 9:22). He became stronger and stronger not because he was lifting weights and eating a lot of food. It was because he was being equipped by the Spirit of God (Acts 20:22-24). Paul had a tremendous strength and courage (2 Cor. 4:8-13).
2. The Identification
So if you’re going to be strong in heart, you have to be strengthened by the Strengthener – The Holy Spirit. A weak Christian is one who walks in the flesh all the time. Strong Christian is one who walks in the Spirit.
3. The Instrument
Although the Holy Spirit is the Strengthener, He uses human instruments also (Acts 18:23). God uses human instruments empowered by His Holy Spirit to strengthen others.
Paul’s prayer for all of us is to have strong hearts, because a strong heart will prevent us from being sucked into emotionalism and disobedience. Results of a strong heart: Eph. 3:17-21.
To God be the Glory!
Prepared and Lectured by Ptr. Arnel T. Caimol
(from the lessons of John MacArthur, John Piper, Neil Anderson)