What is the difference between someone’s heart and spirit? If we repent with our heart, does it mean one thing, and if we repent with our spirit, another? Or, are they one and the same?
We’ve all heard someone wail, “Oh, you are breaking my heart!” What does that mean?
The heart is the physical organ within our bodies. Without the heart, we would die, for it gives life to every other part of our body. Yet, that is not the heart spoken of in the Word.
The heart is also the wellspring of who we are. It is our emotional center, the core of the feelings that drive us through life. Love. Hate. Sorrow. Without our hearts, our humanity would fade away, and we would be as the beasts in the fields.
So, if someone has a change of heart, we mean they feel differently about something. They wanted to go to Disneyworld, and now they no longer do. Red was their favorite color, and now they prefer blue.
How do we describe spirit? How about when a teenager drops out of school, wrecks the family car, and runs away three times in six months? We describe them as high-spirited. On the track, a high-spirited horse has to be broken to be made into a first place winner. What do we break? Its spirit, of course.
The Scriptures make a clear distinction between repentance of the heart and repentance of the spirit. Look first to Mark 1:4. John was baptizing people in the desert. He told the people that he was preaching a baptism that would bring changed hearts and changed lives. Then he made a quite definitive statement. Another was coming after him, and the one who was coming would baptize with the Holy Spirit.
Acts 5:31 bears John’s words out, for in this passage we find that Jesus is the one whom God has chosen to rule at his side, and through him people will change their hearts and lives (John’s role) and also have their sins forgiven (Jesus’ role).
John’s role was to change people’s hearts, and that would change their lives. John’s preaching affected people’s emotions, those core feelings that drive us through life. Jesus also did this, but he came to give life and give it more abundantly. He came to forgive our sins and change our spirit.
How does this apply to us today? God wants us to emotionally connect with him, for as humans, it is our emotions that drive us. However, we will continually fail in our Christian walk if we do not also allow our spirit to become his. We will forever be the stallion that is filled with possibilities but wants to be free too much to give in to the master’s loving touch.
When we love God with our emotions, we will change our lives, but when we allow him control of our spirit, we will become like him, and we will change other people's lives.
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