You’ve felt it; I’ve felt it—that Holy Spirit tug in your heart when your behavior is contrary to the Bible. It happens when we experience a conflict between our beliefs and how we choose to behave.
Think about it. Let’s say you believe everything belongs to God as it relates to money. You believe you are not an owner of all God has blessed you with, but a steward of what God created. Every time that you do something contrary to that belief, it creates a dissonance in your heart.
For example, If I were to say I believe it is biblical to tithe—a tenth of all that comes in to me should be given back to God for His work, but then I keep the money and don’t give that ten percent back to Him. That creates a struggle between my beliefs and my behavior.
If you say on Sunday, “… this is what I believe,” and then on Monday you live a life that is totally contrary to what you say you believe, and it doesn’t bother you—you need to be worried about that. There’s a problem. That’s not the way human beings are wired. We are going to be bothered when we don’t behave the way we say we believe.
So, what do you do when you feel that tug of the Holy Spirit in your heart? You get your beliefs settled. Go back and ask yourself some heartfelt questions:
- Do I really have a relationship with Christ?
- Do I really know Him?
- Do I really understand God’s intent for my life?
You start there and get your beliefs straight. Then you begin to modify your behavior, bringing what you do, in line with what you truly believe.
Counsel from godly people will help bring clarity to your situation. God puts us in a community for a reason—He wants us to communicate with people of like faith to help us deal with things.
Perhaps you’ve made a difficult decision. Maybe there is some crisis in your life. When you have some confusion in your thinking that doesn’t match up with your feelings, then there is a disconnect between the 18 inches from your head to your heart.
God is in the business of restoring, but that doesn’t always mean reconciliation. Find a godly mentor or counselor. Someone you can share your heart with, grieve, and give voice to the emotion going on inside of you. Get your head and heart matched. Draw on the strength from others.
It’s your decision. Pray about it and trust that God will move in your life.
