the heart

i'd like to delve into the human heart for a bit. this delving won't include the physical aspects of the heart, but rather will touch on the non-physical aspects/elements of our hearts.

1st i'd like to begin in listing some obvious characteristics of the non-physical heart. in doing a bit of research into the word, i immediately found that there's 528 scripture verses on this subject in the bible (nlt). very few verses speak of the physical heart that beats w/in our chests. now, to the list i was talking about:

the heart (elements/characteristics)-
-emotional: the full gamut: fear, joy, anguish, sadness, pain, hurt, excitedness, etc....
-obedience to God: causes a pure/honest heart
-it can be led astray
-it can be deceitful
-love God w/it fully
-has desires that God wants to bless
-the Word should be written on it
-God looks @ our hearts
-our heart can be cleaned and renewed
-is filled w/sins that can be forgiven
-God is good to those w/pure hearts
-via obedience, wisdom enters the heart
-we must guard, because it affects everything we do
-God tests our hearts
-what is in them will come out
-it can doubt
-etc.........

in order to bring some clarity to this heart thing, i'd like to describe it in terms of aspects/parts- rather than one way or the other (singular). if i say that my heart is always deceitful- would that be an accurate statement (given the list above)? if i say that my heart is always pure- would that be accurate? if i say that God will always give me my desires- would that be accurate? when i ask God to clean/renew my heart, does that mean it remains that way forever?

*as you can see, any scripture when focused on, singularly, can be a bit screwy. what if i said that the heart consists of two main areas/aspects & not just one?*

word def-
sarx = the flesh, denotes mere human nature, the earthly nature of man apart from divine influence, and therefore prone to sin and opposed to God (fallen, sinful, deteriorated human nature, all humans have inherited from adam- fleshy/false knowing)
&
our spirit related to God (spirit-led/filled/true knowing)- remember paul's talk about the two forces that struggle w/in him? the flesh struggles w/our spirits.

letting emotion drive the car of our lives is foolish & a recipe for destruction

ignoring our emotions by pushing them aside or down, by white-knuckled determination can be good by virtue of abstinence/self-control, but it's not an optimal or fully painted picture.

what if we took those crazy emotions that many of us have from past hurt/pain/trauma & ssought healing for them (replacing lies w/Jesus' truth about it)? wouldn't we like to move from white-knuckled self-control/abstinence into seemingly effortless restraint from those emotions that so often ensnare us?

all that to say, the heart has good aspects & not so good aspects. it is a complex thing. it causes a struggle w/in. healing brings the ability to lessen the "sarx" & increase the heart that Jesus gave us to live from.