How do you go about developing a heart that resembles God’s own heart? I’ve always been fascinated by what was said of David in Acts 13:22 –
22 And when He (God) had removed him (King Saul), He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’
This wasn’t David making this statement about himself. God Himself said of David that he was “a man after My own heart”. What this tells us is that a person can love God and follow after Him to the point where his heart can resemble God’s in how it perceives, thinks and acts. This is a shadow of the beauty and holiness of God’s heart, but a devoted representation striving to grow each day to be more pleasing to God.
Developing this heart doesn’t happen overnight. It is something that must be cultivated over time, with diligence and purpose. In 1 Samuel 13:14 we read of the prophet Samuels’ words to King Saul when he brought the king news that God was removing him from being king of Israel:
14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”
At the time of this conversation David was a young teen, yet even at that young age God had chosen him to be the next king over His people. At this young age David was selected by God because he was already a man after God’s own heart. Where Saul lost his role as king because he had not obeyed what God had commanded, God saw David as one who, as Acts 13:22 states, “will do all My will.”
Going After God’s Heart
So how did David cultivate this type of heart? How do you or I do it? The answer is found in the word “after”. David was found to have a heart “after” or “like” or “resembling” that of God’s because he went “after” or “followed” or “pursued” God’s heart. David was active in learning God’s tendencies, His patterns, His thoughts, and His ways. He studied the heart of the person he wanted to please so that he could do just that – please Him.
To be “after” God’s heart you will have to apply yourself. It isn’t something you do without a real commitment to paying attention, learning the details, and doing all you can to grow more in tune with God and His ways.
When I wanted to win the heart of the woman who is now my wife, I had to apply myself to learning what was in her heart.
- It required me to spend quality time with her.
- It required me to pay attention and listen to what she had to say. Without listening I wouldn’t learn who she really was.
- It required me to look at myself and evaluate where we agreed and where we differed – and then be honest to see if I was the one who needed to make the adjustment.
- It required me to act on the things I learned about her.
I had to work to truly go after her heart. I would never reach my goal by idly standing across the room. To captivate her in a way that she would see how much I valued who she was and what was important to her, I had to make it a priority.
Twenty five years later, we have a very good idea about how the other thinks or feels about things. We can anticipate the other’s needs or desires. We sometimes complete each other’s sentences. This deep connection developed over time. We learned to choose to be patient with each other and to think of the other as our priority instead of ourselves. That heart I went after over time became part of my own heart. Things that were important to her became important to me. Pleasing her and making her proud to have me as her husband shaped my motivations and my actions.
Going After God’s Heart Requires Choosing His Ways Over Your Desires
An important thing to note is that if you are going after God’s heart, you will have to see things from His perspective. You will either choose to change your perspective to match His and forgo what you want, or head down your own path. Whatever the choice, God’s ways are right.
Unfortunately, people sometimes want to pick and choose what they want to be in agreement with and in obedience to. To do this, they attempt to justify their behavior by citing to God’s love as their basis for why having it their way should be OK with God. God still loves them, but it doesn’t make it OK with Him. It’s as if their happiness is more important than God’s happiness. If you find yourself in a situation like this, you are not going after God’s own heart in that matter. You are choosing yours over His.
Over the years I’ve talked to my kids about different situations they have shared with me where this frame of thinking is involved. I remind them of an important principle – if you are expecting someone to be OK with being treated by you in a way you wouldn’t appreciate, then you are thinking wrong. When we take that to God’s level, it is even worse. He is holy. We need to remember that when we consider treating him like a doormat so that we can have our own way. The respect and love you have for Him should deter you from doing something that isn’t pleasing to Him – because of your love for Him. It’s selfish to expect Him to be OK with your choices that go against His ways.
David made his own mistakes, and in the case of Uriah the Hittite and his wife Bathsheba, David did just what I described above. He chose what he wanted over what he knew was pleasing to God. There was fallout and consequences from the event, but David repented to God for his actions and God restored him. If you’ve made this mistake, ask God to forgive you and move on from it. He is faithful.
God’s Character Working In You Will Change Your Heart
Going to church doesn’t make you a person after God’s own heart. Neither does your service, your giving, or your morality. Those things will be the by-products of following after God’s heart, but they can also be done without His thoughts, ways or character operating in your life. God’s heart in you will be your motivation and your compass, and will produce fruit from your actions.
As you learn and walk in God’s ways -growing in His character – you will think in accordance to how He would have you think and act. As you do this, your heart will change more and more to be a representation of what His is like. Your heart is being cultivated and developed to be one that follows His desires first. This walk is not only one that is pleasing to God, but also one that brings a deep, intimate relationship with Him. David began this process as a young boy, and continued in it throughout his life. You’re never too young or too old to start. The important part is that you pursue God’s heart with a diligence and passion that will change you from the inside out. That heart that David cultivated as a boy helped him as a teen trust God to face and slay a giant. It helped him defeat his enemies as a young man, and later rule a kingdom into old age. He lived his life pursuing God, always desiring God’s presence in his life, and trusting God to see him through every trial. You can do the same, going after God’s own heart and experiencing it changing yours to be more like Him. That is our ultimate goal, to be more like Jesus – from the inside out.
Today is a good a day to start your pursuit of God’s heart. Go after it! Expect God to meet you as you seek Him in a deeper way.
Jeremiah 29:12,13 –
12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
