I’ve been thinking a lot about the importance of believers coming back to the heart.

Two things have pushed me into this conviction.

First: the coldness and cruelty I’ve seen in so many Christians lately. The political tension, the Charlie Kirk situation, COVID debates—it’s exposed how quickly we can divide and how ugly we can be toward one another.

It reminds me of Jesus’ words: “... the love of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12).

When I look around, that scripture feels less like a warning and more like a mirror.

It makes me think: Somewhere along the way, we forgot how to live from the heart Jesus gave us.

Second: the explosion of heresy-hunters, “discernment” channels, and apologetics-as-entertainment.

I value apologetics. I love truth. But so much of it has turned the gospel into an intellectual battlefield instead of a spiritual home.

When “being right” becomes the goal, pride grows. Condemnation spreads. Division multiplies.

Truth becomes a weapon instead of a Person.

Jesus didn’t say, “I teach the truth.” He said, “I AM the Truth” (John 14:6).

Truth is not just a doctrine—it’s a Person you walk with. Truth is not just an intellectual pursuit—it's intimacy with the Person.

And when you walk with the Person of Truth, freedom is always there (John 8:32).

So between these two things—the cold heart and the intellectualized faith—I see the desperate need for believers to return to childlike simplicity.

To remember that God has already given us a new heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26).

To stop calling the new heart “wicked” because of an old covenant verse in Jeremiah that does not apply to those in Christ.

We’re not fighting a wicked heart. We’re learning to renew old thinking so it finally matches what Jesus has already made new—read more here.

These HeartNotes are my way of modeling that return.

To simplicity.
To warmth.
To childlikeness.
To the inner life that actually looks like Jesus.

It doesn’t mean we abandon intellect or ignore theological clarity. It just means we do all of that from agape, not ego.

“Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.”—1 Corinthians 8:1

When we gather around Christ instead of opinions, we always find oneness—even in diversity.

Oneness doesn’t mean becoming clones. It means our differences become different angles of the same Face.

As Paul said, we are many parts, but one Body (1 Corinthians 12:12). And the Head is Christ. The Heart is Christ.

If the Head is love, the body has no business being cold.

Analogy

It’s like a fireplace in winter.

You can stand there and debate the chemistry of fire, the structure of wood, and the mechanics of heat—but none of that warms your hands.

Only drawing near does.

Theology is the map. Jesus is the fire. Maps are helpful. Fire is essential.

“Christianity is not a theory or speculation; it is life.” — Samuel Taylor Coleridge

When we live from the heart Jesus gave us, we exchange:

• Cruelty for compassion.

• Coldness for warmth.

• Intellectual pride for intimacy.

• Arguments for agape.

Because the gospel was never meant to be mastered—it was meant to be received, embodied, and shared.

Jesus didn’t just inform people. He transformed people.

And He still does—when we come back to the heart.

1. Where have I allowed my faith to drift into the head instead of the heart—and what is Jesus inviting me back to?

2. Have I been more concerned with being “right” than being like Christ in love, warmth, and humility?

3. What would shift in my relationships if I lived from the new heart Jesus has already given me?

Take 5 minutes today to sit quietly with Jesus and simply say, “Jesus, bring me back to the heart.”

No striving. No analyzing. Just awareness, warmth, and nearness.