Revive My Heart toward the Peace of Christ
It might be helpful to ponder what “reviving the heart” means.
First of all, when the Scriptures mention the word “heart,” it is rarely referring to that essential organ in our chest that beats steadily and faithfully throughout our lifetime. It more generally is referring to the attitudes that represent who we are and who we’re becoming. In other words, a “change of heart” would be an adjustment in the attitudes that dominate our view of life and effect what we do in life.
To “revive our hearts” would be to adjust our attitudes, sometimes radically, so that they contribute most assuredly to our spiritual health.
For instance, if we reflect on the attitudes that dominate our perspective about life and find that envy is close to being “front and center,” we must find the spiritually surgical tools to remove it from a place of dominance and push it to the margins of our minds.
Take a look at Proverbs 14:30. In an insight almost three-thousand years old, the writer observes that “a heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.” In other words, envy as an attitude dominating our perspective in life can even have a negative effect on our physical health. The prescriptive is an attitude of peacefulness. Our commitment to “peace of mind” and contentment regarding our life’s circumstances and status becomes an instrument of spiritual revival (and spiritual survival)!
So how do we experience the “revival of our hearts” that turns us away from envy and to the peace in which God wants us to rest?
John Lennon—my favorite of the Beatles—sang a song almost fifty years ago, a counter-cultural anthem, “Give Peace a Chance.” Even at a surface listen, you can tell that the song offers an admonition to consider alternatives to war and envy-driven conflict.
Saint Paul in his letter to the Colossians, would probably push the imperative of “peace” farther and assert that working toward peace deserves even more priority in our lives, something beyond merely giving it a “chance.” I certainly like John Lennon’s intent, but Paul told the Colossian church to “let the peace of Christ rule or ‘umpire’ in your heart, since as members of Christ’s body, you’ve been called to peace.”
Peace, as a “fruit of the Spirit” is not a random euphoria, but as a state of mind, it is an attitude of conscience cultivated and protected.
Let me explain.
First, “peace” in the sense that the Apostle Paul uses it in Colossians is the result of an active and healthy conscience. “Active” in that the work and grace of regular self-examination should be a
priority in our daily lives.
“Bill W” the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous and creator of the “Twelve Steps” program noted the centrality of an active and healthy conscience. He asserted that
“the wise have always known that no one can make much of his life until self-searching (self-examination) has become a regular habit, until he is able to admit and accept what he finds, and until he patiently and persistently tries to correct what is wrong.”
“The peace of Christ” experientially is the result of regularly taking inventory, with peace or lack thereof, as an “umpire.”
Peace as an “umpire” in your heart alerts you when your word or deed is not consistent with the gracious and merciful calling of God to be his image-bearers. The “umpire” or “ruler” of your heart will inform the conscience of your injustice, lack of love, or unkindly manner and result in a lessened sense of peace. Sometimes this is experienced as a “guilty” conscience. It’s the “umpire of your heart,” the ruler of your conscience saying “Something is not right.”
A quick word about the experience of a “guilty conscience.” Sometimes we’re led to believe that a guilty conscience is an unhealthy phenomenon. And certainly, at times, it can be. If the “umpire of your heart” is not tied to specific unloving words or actions, but more to a re-cycled parental voice telling you you’ll never measure up, never be good enough, strong enough, attractive enough, significant enough—that’s not the “peace of Christ present as an umpire.” That’s the bludgeoner of your soul acting as an executioner. In this case, it is good to remember regularly Saint Paul’s word to the Roman Christians, chapter 8, verse one, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (ESV)
However, to experience a “guilty conscience” or a “lack of peace” over something you’ve done or said is a sign that you’re still morally alive, that your conscience has not been “severed,” that the peace of Christ is still active as an “umpire” in your conscience—shall I say, a spiritual barometer of health and relational well-being. Umpires of the heart, like umpires in any sport, make rulings that, if ignored, turn the garden of God (our lives) into a tangled mess.
“Let the peace of Christ umpire in your heart!” Let the peace of Christ revive us!
Paul D. Patton, Ph.D., is a professor of communication and theater at Spring Arbor University in Michigan. He has graduate degrees in Guidance and Counseling, Religious Education, and Script and Screenwriting, and a doctorate in Communication with an emphasis in theater arts. He has been married to his wife Beth for over forty years and has three daughters (all actresses)—Jessica, Emily, and Grace, three sons-in-law, David, Joe, and Eric, and four grandsons, Caleb Rock, Logan Justice, Micah Blaze, and Miles Dean.