The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9

I do not always understand my heart. At times it bleeds for others only a second later to be puffed up with pride and selfish ambition. I don’t always know why I do what I do, but I know what I want to be motivated by. I want to be purely motivated by The Lord.

But the heart is deceitful. And at times the valve opens and we become inflated beyond our desire to serve. We forget what once motivated us to serve out of brokeness and instead become inspired by numbers or followers. It’s not fair to a heart that just wants to love. But that’s what happens when pride bends and twists its way under a heart that’s been set free. It’s a sneaky e tacked onto the end of a word. A silent letter e, but never silent to those who read between the lines.

A heart bloated with expectations that may never be met – or filled with understanding that cannot go beyond the common – is a heart easily deflated when poked and prodded by circumstances. If not rooted in the firm foundation of Christ, we are easily shriveled up, deflated, and left for the wind.

But when a heart daily begins by rooting itself in the Word of God, no expectations for greatness, just humility and grace, the water of His unending love begins to make it grow. Oaks do not grow as quickly as a heart swelled with pride. Meek beginnings lead to substantial and sustainable endings. Hearts such as these are the ones with rewards that will last. No longer tossed about by the wind, but rather bent and swayed in the way Christ would have them grow.

And although pride would have us follow its beckoning illusions of happiness, we can know better, and choose a root over a bloat. Our God over our desires. And our calling over the flesh. True joy is found in setting the deceitful ways aside and serving out of the desire to offer His grace as a remedy for the broken.