Setting Our Hearts (Pt. 3: The How)

In Colossians 3:2, we read:

Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

(Colossians 3:2)

However, how exactly does one set his or her heart (or mind) “on things above”?

Well, let’s look at what the word “set” means.

The Greek word for “set” in this verse is phroneō (φρονέω), and it means “to direct one’s mind to a thing, to seek or strive for.”

But here’s the problem with this.

Carnally Impossible

Romans 8:7 gives a plain reason why what we just saw in Colossians 3:2 is–at first–problematic:

Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

(Romans 8:7)

Our minds and hearts are naturally carnal.

The word “carnal” actually means “prone to sin and opposed to God.”

Consequently, we as sinful humans DON’T WANT anything to do with God or the eternal values of God.

And that is the problem.

How can a heart or mind that is naturally OPPOSED to eternal things become interested in eternal things?

Here’s How

Below are several Bible verses, along with bits of my own personal commentary, to help you understand HOW to practically go from having a heart & mind that is in dead set opposition to God to eagerly set on seeking after God.

Bible Verse #1: Proverbs 23:26

My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.

(Proverbs 23:26)

MY THOUGHTS:

We need to give, or to surrender, our carnal hearts and minds to the Lord.

In fact, there’s two words in the original Hebrew that define that word “give” in Proverbs 23:26. Those words are:

• Trade
• Yield

When we CHOOSE to yield, to give, to surrender, to TRADE off our old carnal hearts and minds, God will then give us new hearts and minds that long and seek after the eternal.

This is evidenced in our second Bible verse.

Bible Verse #2: Ecclesiastes 36:26-27

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

(Ezekiel 36:26-27)

MY THOUGHTS:

Even though this verse says that God takes away our stony hearts, He DOES NOT take away a stony heart that is being locked away and kept from Him.

God will only take what we allow Him to take.

God will only step in when we allow Him to step in, as it says in Revelation 3:20–

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

(Revelation 3:20)

Bible Verse #3: Romans 5:5

And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

(Romans 5:5)

MY THOUGHTS:

In the previous verse we looked at, Ezekiel 36:27, we saw that when God’s Spirit is in our new hearts, we will be able to walk in what Eternity values!

Romans 5:5 gives us a key insight into HOW this specifically works.

When we receive a new heart and mind from the Lord, we also receive the Holy Spirit’s abiding presence to enable us to obediently live Eternity-focused lives.

And when the Holy Spirit is in us, He “sheds abroad” in our hearts and minds that love to motivate us to live for Eternity!

Bible Verse #4: Galatians 5:13

MY THOUGHTS:

Now here’s our practical role in “the how” behind setting our hearts on God’s eternal values.

While it is the Holy Spirit’s role to “shed abroad” in our hearts God’s love to motivate us to obediently live for Him, it also shouldn’t stop there.

One of my favorite writers, Ellen White, had this to say about God’s true love:

The plant of love is a very tender plant and must be cultivated.

(Letters and Manuscripts Volume 4, Manuscript 13, 1886)

Our fourth Bible verse in Galatians 5:13 already shows us how to practically grow and cultivate the love that the Holy Spirit pours into our new hearts and minds to obey Him.

And that is SERVICE.

Service is the practical means God gives to us to maintain our new heart and mind, along with prayerful surrender–as was mentioned in our first Bible verse!

A Prayer

Friend, would you like to begin to practically surrender your old, carnal heart and mind to the Lord, receive a new heart and mind infused with the Holy Spirit’s presence, and maintain that spiritual newness through the power of service?

If so, then I wanna encourage you to pray:

Amen! Maranatha!