Where your heart is or where you want it to be?

Give and spend where you want your heart to be, and then let your heart catch up. Don’t just give to those things you care about. Give to things you want to care about. Ask yourself, “If I were the sort of person I long to be, then what would I do? How would I spend my money?” Then do what you would do if you were that sort of person. Put your treasure where you want your heart to be. If you do, says Jesus, your heart will go there. If you want to care more about the kind of car you drive, buy an expensive one. If you want to care more about property values, remodel your house. But if you want to grow in your faith, bring an offering to God.

Wherever your treasure is, your heat is sure to follow. Here as elsewhere in the scriptural tradition, we are not told to feel a certain way, but enjoined to act in a certain manner. After all, feelings, unlike actions, cannot be governed by simple will…. Turn you cheek. Give to those who beg from you. Prayer for your enemies. Give thanks to God. Don’t wait until you feel like it. Nike could have borrowed its motto from Jesus: “Just do it.”

By Martin B. Copenhaver, Christian Century, November 11, 2015