The Concept and Meanings of the “Heart” in the Bible
Elias Bejjani/June 28/2025
The word “heart” appears over 300 times in the Bible. Theologically, it has little, if anything, to do with the physical organ that pumps blood. Instead, it refers to the core of human existence, the center where all our capacities converge, including our conscience, emotions, and entire range of feelings and contradictions. In modern psychological terms, it’s our “self” or “ego.” Therefore, from a theological, emotional, spiritual, and faith-based perspective, the heart isn’t the physical organ beating in our chest. It’s the spiritual and existential reality that forms the very essence of our personal being. It’s the central point where all the threads of our human existence intertwine. In observing church rituals and icons, we notice the immense significance given to the “Heart of Jesus” and the “Immaculate Heart of Mary.” Throughout both the Old and New Testaments, dozens of verses emphasize the critical importance and centrality of this spiritual, intellectual, and faith-based understanding of the heart.
The Heart in God’s Commands
This understanding is clearly seen in the first of the Ten Commandments: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind” (Luke 10:27, Deuteronomy 6:5). Jesus Himself speaks of the heart as the root of human intentions and the origin of all our actions. “For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person” (Matthew 15:19-20). This confirms that the very essence of who we are, whether for good or ill, originates in the heart.
Only God truly knows the intentions of our hearts
Only God truly knows the intentions of our hearts, whether good or evil. Because He loves us and awaits our return to His heavenly home—a home not built by human hands—He, as a merciful Father, constantly warns us through various means. He does so when we defile our hearts, fall into the devil’s temptations, and follow our “old self”—the self of original sin—abandoning the “new self” born of baptism by water and the Holy Spirit. “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules’” (Matthew 15:7-8). This verse highlights the importance of genuine worship that springs from the heart, rather than just outward rituals.
A Pure Heart: A Gift from God
The Bible teaches us to always pray to God with humility, sincerity, and faith, asking for the grace and gift of a pure, upright, and good heart. “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10). This prayer expresses a deep longing for spiritual renewal, rooted in a new heart. God the Father created humanity in His image and likeness, giving us a heart like His own. When He sees that heart being defiled, He rushes to our aid, sending prophets, saints, and righteous people to guide us back to the right path. However, when we disobey, remain unrepentant, and fail to atone, He disciplines and punishes us, as He did in the time of Noah and Nimrod, and with Lot’s cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
God’s sorrow over the corruption of human hearts
“The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled” (Genesis 6:5-6). These verses vividly show God’s sorrow over the corruption of human hearts. God works through natural law, conscience, and prophets to awaken the hearts of humanity, so they may return to Him, find Him, give Him their hearts, and observe His ways and commandments. “With your own eyes you saw those great trials and the signs and great wonders. But to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear. Yet I have led you forty years in the wilderness; your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandals have not worn out on your feet” (Deuteronomy 29:3-5). Here, we see that a lack of understanding and perception stems from the heart.
The Heart as a Dwelling Place for the Holy Spirit
Our Lord God bound our hearts to His, so that we may love Him with all our heart and soul, and live through Him. God fully accomplished this in the New Covenant through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in believers. Our hearts become a dwelling place for His Spirit, sanctified for Him, making us temples of God’s Spirit. Our hearts become altars consecrated for worship through devout prayers and sincere love. As our hearts are purified, we come to see God, and Christ works within us through faith. Thus, it is crucial to pause and reflect on the biblical and theological meaning of the heart.
The heart is that reality in which the human being finds his or her unity and inner orientation
In his commentary on the Third Secret of Fatima, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) offered a concise description of the heart: “In biblical language, the heart means the center of human existence, the integration of mind and will, temperament and feeling.” He added: “The heart is that reality in which the human being finds his or her unity and inner orientation.”
The heart is a human capacity that goes beyond and deeper than intellectual ability, and beyond the reach of our imagination. It is the dimension of divine instinct and also the depth of the soul. “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve” (Jeremiah 17:9-10). This verse emphasizes that only God truly sees and tests the hidden depths of the heart.
It’s impossible for any of us to fully penetrate another person’s inner being, no matter how close they are, or to know what’s stored within their heart and thoughts. However, we can understand it through their actions, words, and feelings, which bear witness to what’s in their heart, “for the mouth speaks what the heart is full of” (Matthew 12:34). And this heart becomes defiled when its owner succumbs to the traps of worldly desires, failing to curb and refine them due to a lack of faith and weak hope.
The Heart and Love
In our prayers, we say, “Lord, give me a heart like Your own” (“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10)). This means: “Bestow upon me the gifts of love, for love is God, and love is the heart.” The meaning of love, which is God Himself, was beautifully defined by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13: “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
Biblical Verses on the Heart
Many verses in the Bible illustrate the meanings of the heart. Here are a few more:
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8).
“He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith” (Acts 15:9).
“The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god” (Psalm 24:4).
“They would not be like their ancestors—a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him” (Psalm 78:8).
“Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel?” (Ezekiel 18:31).
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26). This verse specifically speaks of the inner transformation granted by God.
Then Jesus said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of people’s hearts, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person” (Mark 7:20-23).
“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you” (Proverbs 4:23-25). This verse emphasizes the importance of protecting the heart as it is the source of life.
“As the secrets of their hearts are laid bare, they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, ‘God is truly among you!'” (1 Corinthians 14:25).
“Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed” (Isaiah 6:10). This verse shows the consequence of stubbornness and refusal to hear God’s word.
The Sacred Heart of Jesus: A Fount of Divine Love
Pope Benedict XVI: “The roots of this devotion (to the Sacred Heart of Jesus) are deeply embedded in the mystery of the Incarnation. Through the Heart of Jesus, God’s love for humanity was revealed in a vivid way. Therefore, authentic devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus retains its meaning and particularly attracts souls thirsting for God’s mercy—an unfathomable spring of living water capable of quenching the deserts of the soul, allowing hope to grow.”
Prayer to the Sacred Heart
O Jesus, You possess a compassionate heart, full of goodness and kindness. You see me and love me. You are merciful and forgiving, for You cannot witness misery without desiring to heal it. Behold, I place all my hope in You, trusting that You will not abandon me, and that Your graces will always surpass my expectations. Therefore, Jesus, fulfill all Your promises for me, grant me the graces necessary for my state, bestow peace upon my family, comfort me in my trials, and be my refuge throughout my life and at the hour of my death. If I am lukewarm in faith, I will grow fervent through You. If I am fervent, I will ascend to higher degrees of perfection. Grant me, Jesus, a special grace to soften hardened hearts, and to spread devotion to Your Sacred Heart. And inscribe my name in Your adored Heart, that it may never be erased. I also ask You to bless my home, where the image of Your Most Sacred Heart is honored.
