The Flowering Of Your Heart

When it comes to life we must recognize the way that we see things is not always the way things are. As Jesus said, we must deal with the speck in our own eye before we can properly help those around us. The way that we see others is a reflection of how we see ourselves. “Love your neighbor as yourself,” could be reinterpreted as “You can only love to the degree that you know heart.” Why? Because deep love comes in being known and being fully known (1 Corinthians 13:12).

"And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consdier the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."

Matthew 7:3

If you are not aware of your own heart it will be difficult to see people in light of God’s eternal destiny. We tend to see our own pain, faults, troubles, trauma, circumstances in others. “As water reflects the face, so the heart of man to man,” states Proverbs 27:19. To be aware of your heart frees you to be able to love unconditionally.

“You have not yet acquired perfect love if your regard for people is still swayed by their character.”

— Maximos the Confessor

Even deeper so, the path to true knowledge of God lies through the heart of the believer. Without knowing our own heart we will apply to God the pain of our life. If I hold pain towards my father, I will see God as father through the lens of my pain. God is actively involved in our lives, continually revealing the state of our heart to us. After all, without him, how could we ever hope to know what lies hidden deep within?