It has been said, “The longest journey you will ever take in your life is from your head to your heart.” Although the distance between our heads and hearts is a mere 18 inches, taking what we know about God and acting on it is no simple task. How can I get faith from my head to my heart?
In the 17th century, Protestants and Catholics were locked in deadly serious debates over essential beliefs about the nature of God and the meaning of Christ’s death on the cross. What people believed occupied center stage, and behavior was given lesser importance. With so much debate given to Christ’s death for people, the corresponding message of Christ’s life in people was obscured.
Reformers like Johann Arndt (1555-1621) recognized the discrepancy and addressed it in speaking and writing. He was a diligent pastor, but his lofty aspirations left him frustrated in his ministry. He channeled his energies into a four-volume devotional in the early 1600s on True Christianity. What good is so much head knowledge if it doesn’t produce needed heart changes? In True Christianity, Arndt called upon believers to exhibit “a true, living, and active faith.” Jesus’ teachings weren’t only meant to be believed; they were intended to be lived. Head knowledge and heart affection work together to bring about lasting change. His devotional became a bestseller among Catholics and Protestants alike. One librarian in a Catholic monastery observed that Arndt’s writing was the most popular book in their monastic library. One of his prayers from True Christianity leads us to pray: