What truly stirs a person’s heart to know the Lord is not pride, religion without love, or trust in human effort. It is the grace of God opening the heart to see the beauty, mercy, and worth of Jesus Christ. Paul said, “I want to know Christ” and counted everything else as loss compared with knowing Him (Philippians 3:8-10).
Sincere Christians rejoice in Christ Jesus. They do not boast in themselves, their works, their background, or their outward religious acts. Paul wrote, “For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:3).
God wants worship that comes from the heart. Religious actions mean little if the heart is far from Him. Jesus said, “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me” (Matthew 15:8). True worship happens by the Spirit of God, not by empty performance (John 4:23-24).
The Bible also warns us about false teachers and careless spiritual leaders. Isaiah spoke of watchmen who were blind and like “dumb dogs” that could not bark, meaning they failed to warn the people (Isaiah 56:10). Paul also warned, “Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers” (Philippians 3:2). These were people who trusted in human works and drew hearts away from the free salvation found in Christ.
But the gospel points us away from self-trust and toward Christ. We cannot stand before God by our own righteousness, because all have sinned (Romans 3:23). Our hope is the righteousness God gives through faith in Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:9; Romans 3:22-24).
When a person truly sees who Jesus is, the heart begins to change. Christ becomes more precious than pride, possessions, reputation, or religious achievement. Paul once trusted in his own record, but after knowing Christ, he counted those things as loss (Philippians 3:7-8).
What stirs the heart is the knowledge that Jesus loved us, died for us, rose again, and offers salvation by grace. We love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). His kindness leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4). His cross draws us to Himself (John 12:32).
To truly know Christ is not only to know facts about Him, but to trust Him, follow Him, and be changed by Him. The believer dies to sin and lives to God through Jesus Christ (Romans 6:6-11). The world loses its hold when the cross becomes our boast (Galatians 6:14).
So let us rejoice in Christ Jesus. Let us guard our hearts from false teaching, self-righteousness, and empty religion. Let us ask God to stir in us a sincere desire to know Him more, to trust His righteousness, and to press on toward the hope of the resurrection (Philippians 3:10-11, 14).
Minister A Francine Green, October 2026