Lead by Heart

 22For day by day men came to David to help him, until there was a great army like the army of God.


 38All these, being men of war who could draw up in battle formation, came to Hebron with a perfect heart to make David king over all Israel; and all the rest also of Israel were of one mind to make David king.


1 Chronicles 12:22,38


When trying to follow God's ways we're told not to lead by emotion but to lean on God's wisdom.  How is it then with David, a man of God's own heart, was such a great leader?  He allowed his heart to lead.  This is different from emotional leadership because leading by heart has nothing to do with the "state" of your heart or temporary conditions.  Leading by heart has everything to do about commitment and passion for God.


If I remember correctly, Pastor Wayne gave a sermon on commitment and passion before (not sure if he used those phrases tho).  When we're walking right with God, our passion will fuel us to follow Him.  But a lot of times we just don't feel like doing good... it's being real about our faith; that's where commitment comes in.  We need to check our hearts past the "feelings" or even our "fire" so that we can stand faithfully through tough times.  These two things, like teetering on a pivot, will vary depending on our conditions but it's all about heart.


Out of all places, I found a quote on Twitter that says, “Before you assume, learn the facts. Before you judge, understand why. Before you hurt someone, feel. Before you leave, commit to staying.”  Sometimes the drive or passion fizzles, that's when we need to go back to our commitment... we have to.  There's many, many times I feel like giving up... so many times.  But leaving ANY situation because of how I feel is unacceptable.  This doesn't mean that there isn't threshold in some cases but God clearly has a plan to use every situation to draw other hearts to Him.  I need to be in tune with my heart.


Father God, thank You for awesome devotional time... especially today when I didn't "feel" like reading through Your word.  Please continue to guide me in Your ways and day by day strip out myself for more of You.  Amen!