Your Heart Sets the Temperature

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts." 
Deuteronomy 6:4-6 (NIV)

What's the difference between knowing about someone and actually knowing them? 

You might know a lot of facts about your favorite athlete or movie star, but that doesn't mean you have a relationship with them.

Moses shows us this difference when he speaks to the Israelites about knowing God. He doesn’t start with a list of rules to follow; He starts with the heart. The reality is that knowledge about God's commandments differs from knowing the God of the commandments.

How does this work in your parenting? God doesn't want you to be good parents; He wants you to be godly parents whose love for Him is evident in every aspect of life. Children are master observers. They watch how you respond when traffic makes you late, how you treat the cashier when they make a mistake, and how you handle stress when the bills pile up.

When you love God wholeheartedly rather than halfheartedly, your children will catch what you didn't even know you were teaching. Your authentic love for God becomes the temperature that sets the spiritual climate of your home.

Start today by examining your own heart. Let your faith be more than head knowledge and receive the heart transformation that comes from the Father.

Prayer: Dear Father, thank You for wanting to know me. Search my heart, show me the ways where I don’t truly love You. Help my love for You to be so genuine that it shows up in how I act and speak–and the next generation learn to love you from my life’s example. In Jesus' Name, Amen.