Active Hearts

"The heart is active," says Paul David Tripp. His colleague, David Powlison agrees: "The heart is an active verb."


The heart is not merely an empty container that gets filled. It is not merely a "love tank" or "love bank" into which others make deposits and withdrawals. Nor is the heart passive - something which is only acted upon, but never acts. Affections and emotions are not like diseases that we catch. Mumps. Measels. Chicken Pox. Flu. No, the heart does. The heart is an active verb.


So what does the heart do?


It adores, admires, applauds and appreciates. The heart approves, abjures, abhors, aims, applies and aspires; it asks and answers, admonishes and accepts; it adopts, anticipates, assumes, arouses and allures; amuses, attracts, averts and avoids; abstains or allows; animates, agitates and attacks.


The heart both begs and begets. It blazes, boils, breathes, begrudges and bequeathes. It calls, cares, cherishes and chooses; challenges, changes, covets and craves. The heart contemplates, considers, cheers, condones, condemns, curses and cajoles; it cries, commands and complains; commits, charms and cheers; contents, contrives and creates. It cautions, chafes, chills, coddles, comforts and condoles; the heart commiserates, clasps, clings and cleaves; it cultivates and it counsels.


Further, the heart delights, desires and depends; dwells upon, dotes on and dreams; despises, detests and demands; dictates, directs and determines; discerns, discriminates and dislikes; despairs and desists; dampens and delays; discourages and dissuades. It esteems and estimates; exalts and exults; enjoys and enjoins; envies and enlivens; electrifies and elects; espouses and embraces; endorses and entertains; expects and excites. It also evades, escapes, empathizes, encourages and exhorts.


It fancies, fantasizes and fascinates; favors, fears, freaks and fumes; forgives or festers; ferments and foments; faints and forbids; foils, frustrates and forgets. The heart groans, glorifies, goes after and gladdens; goads, gives, generates, governs and grants. It hungers and hankers; honors, hopes and holds; hurries, hates and hardens. It instructs, insists, inclines and inquires; importunes, invites, implores and invokes; indulges, intercepts and interferes; inhibits, inflames, and idolizes.


The heart judges, jars, and jolts; it kindles and keeps; loves, likes, longs and lusts; languishes, lulls, laments and loathes. It meditates, memorizes and muses; mopes, mocks, mulls and moves; maddens, magnifies and murmurs; notices, nags and neglects.


The heart observes, obsecrates, obtests and obstructs; objects and obviates; offends, offers, overflows. It profers, pants and pines; prays and plays; pleads and placates; pretends and petitions; praises and prizes. It pictures, prompts, presses, plans and plots; pursues, peruses, ponders, pores and picks; persists, perseveres, propositions and permits. It pouts, precludes, prevents and prohibits; promotes, protects, pacifies and pardons.


The heart quenches and quells; quickens, quiets and quits. It replies and responds; reveres and respects; researches and remembers; repents and rejoices; rewards, relents, reprieves and requests; requires, resents, returns and rejoins. It relishes, restrains and removes; rules, rejects and refuses; it rallies. It revives.


The heart seeks, savors and sees; solicits, sanctions, stirs and strives. It starts and stimulates; spurs and spues and sues; it supplicates, summons and sins; it seethes, simmers and smolders; stifles, subdues and submits. It studies, seperates and settles; scopes, scans, scorns; it surveys and scrutinizes; sifts, surmises and suspects. The heart sorrows, sighs and suffers; suppresses, soothes and sympathizes; shrinks, sidesteps and squelches; stays and storms; shuts and shuns; speaks and stops; satisfies, sings and soars.


It thirsts and treasures; thinks; talks. It thrills, titillates, teases and taunts; it tries and tests; tells and takes; turns, transforms and triumphs. It urges, understands, underplays and underrates; values and venerates; vexes, vetos and vets. The heart wills, wants and wishes; weighs, winnows and worships; warms, woos and worries; wakens, watches and warns. The heart wonders and withdraws.

The heart yearns.


Did you know that this much was going inside of you? What is your heart doing today?