By Heart
So you’re in the bowling alley with your family and the next thing you know, you’re singing the words to the song blaring over the speakers. Your head starts moving. You start bopping around and you’re kids just look at you like, “What are you doing?” You can’t help it! “We Are Family” is just one of those songs you know by heart and when you hear it, you just start singing!
My son told me recently that we all know, by heart, over 10,000 songs! (He informed me that lots of them were songs he didn’t even want to know but just did from growing up with a music-playing mom!) How easily things can be put into our heart; sometimes without us even realizing it.
Over Christmas break I read a terrific book by Andy Stanley called “The Principle of the Path: How to get from where you are to where you want to be”. He says “Attention establishes direction, which determines destination”. It has caused me to think so much about the things I pay attention to which cause me to go in a certain direction, whether I realize it or not. (Like singing the crazy song).
Like most of you, I would like for my family to be a family that loves. I mean really loves. Like actually does the stuff in 1 Corinthians 13 – patient,kind, not rude…you’ve read it before. So my thought is, if we learn that chapter, if we get it in our hearts, might we be more apt to actually be that?
Hebrews 8:10 says, “…I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people.” NLT
I remember my father and mother-in-law for a season quoted this chapter with each other. So, this morning over breakfast, we started day 1 of learning 1 Corinthians 13 together. I hope that soon we will know it by heart and that the power of the Word will over take our attention and move us in the direction of love.
What new direction are you going to move toward this year?
