Good & Noble Hearts: An Introduction

It has been said that Man’s chief end (sole purpose) is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. According to John 15:8, God is glorified in our bearing fruit; it reads, “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” Additionally, as we abide in His love (John 15:9) and bear fruit, we are able to enjoy this fruit of the Spirit that is characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5:22-23). We are responsible to “bear” this fruit; ultimately, however, this fruit comes from the Holy Spirit. In Luke 8, Jesus tells the parable of the four soils. Only one of which He relates as fruitful soil. In this important parable, the key difference between the fruitless, immature, thorny soil and the good soil is one heart (“soil”) is overgrown by worries, pleasures, and riches (Luke 8:14) and the other heart is described as “good and noble”. As you can discern from the title, that is what this blog is about.

More specifically, It’s purpose is three-fold: pursuing the Truth [of God’s Word] as the noble-minded Bereans did (Acts 17:11-12), using the Truth to battle the deception of the enemy (Eph 6:10-20), and protecting ourselves against the self-deception of being only “hearers” of the Word and not “doers” (James 1:22) and, thereby, being fruit-bearing believers.

Or, more simply:

1. bearing the fruit of the Spirit (being “doers” and not merely “hearers”)
2. speaking the Truth (in love) in order to defend against the lies the enemy uses to keep us in bondage
3. being open and noble-minded (as the Bereans were), searching for the Truth no matter where it leads us

All of this can be boiled down into one simple statement: "obeying and believing the Truth of God for our lives," which includes all three of these elements.

I look forward to this journey with you and I pray that it will challenge you to bear fruit in your lives, transform and conform your present beliefs to the Truth of God’s Word, thereby setting you free from the lies of the enemy. Please comment and discuss below each post to enrich study but remember to love one another (as that’s how Jesus said the world would know we are His disciples, John 13:35), even if you vehemently disagree. Remember, we’re all on this journey of Truth together; and while there is only one Truth, everyone has a different, unique perspective to bring to the table. I am very grateful for my brothers and sisters that have come from differing Christian traditions and have brought fresh perspective to the Text. In fact, the reason why this blog is called “Good & Noble HeartS” (plural) and not “Good & Noble Heart” (singular) is because I want you to feel like you are part of this blog and what it represents.

May God bless you all with a spirit of knowledge and revelation so that you may know Him better! (Eph 1:17)

Questions for Reflection, Discussion, and Application:

1. What does it mean to have a "good and noble" heart?
2. How can we seek to be "modern day Bereans"?
3. How might believing things that aren't true affect us?

*Next up on "Good & Noble"... How fearing God and shunning evil (Job 28:28) relates to believing the Truth about God and ourselves...