Sometimes we have internal battles, and usually those battles are between the heart and the mind.

The heart is like a free bird, soaring through the sky without a care in the world, singing its beautiful song. Carefree. Spontaneous. Maybe even a little reckless.

The mind, on the other hand, is not so carefree. The mind gives the facts, the statistics, and the probabilities of every situation we find ourselves in. The mind reigns us in when we might go too far. Strategic. Purposeful. Maybe even a little too careful.

Too much of one or the other never ends well.

Too much heart can lead to carelessness, heartbreak, procrastination, emotional turmoil, and so on. Jeremiah 17:9 tells us that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked…” The heart brings good things, such as passion, loyalty, love, forgiveness, and sympathy. The heart needs to be complimented in order to produce these good things.

Too much mind can lead to lack of emotion, too much focus, inability to interact with others, and so on. The mind is a complex thing, and it’s hard to manage it at times. However, it does bring good things as well, such as wisdom, understanding, control, judgement and responsibility. The mind also needs to be complimented in order to produce these good things.

So, instead of the heart and mind contradicting each other, maybe they are supposed to work together. Maybe the mind was meant to help control the emotions from the heart. Maybe the heart was meant to give motivation to ideas from the mind. Maybe they were meant to hold hands instead of raise fists.

There needs to be a balance. To let the heart run free would be a dangerous and ultimately fatal roller coaster ride of emotions. To let the mind takeover would be a standstill; fear, doubt, and insecurities would take over. The heart needs the mind to keep emotions and whims under control and good guidance. The mind needs the heart to overcome fear and fight through insecurities.

Here’s an illustration. Imagine, if you will, that you have a pile of bricks to your left and a pile of mortar to your right. Alone, neither can do much good.

You can pile the bricks up, but they can easily be knocked over.

You can squish, mold, and pile the mortar, but it will just fall back to its original pile.

In order for either of them to be beneficial, they have to be used together.

Take a few bricks and put some mortar between them and stick them together. Continue to do this with all of the bricks and all of the mortar, and you have endless possibilities. You can build a sturdy wall, a strong house, a giant tower, or whatever you want! Two items that were useless on their own now become unstoppable when used together.

When we keep our mind and our heart balanced, there’s no telling what we can accomplish!