Excerpt from Breakthrough Courage: 9 Habits to Conquer Fear and Build a Brave Heart
Every fall in Colorado, the Worshipper Warrior Men’s Ministry leads a “Wholeheart Advance” with men from around the nation. This is a challenging four-day conference on wholehearted living. Each message is designed to target some aspect of the masculine heart. In seven-person groups of “bloodstained allies”, the men open their hidden places of shame, failure, and those unmentionables that no one wants to talk about. We get real and open about the dark places of our hearts. We challenge the men to leave their half-hearted existence and take the risk of wholehearted living through intimacy with God and other men. We go deep—and we see miracles happen.
Whenever I walk onto the stage, I am greeted by this challenge and response: “Whole heart—live free!” We shout this with gusto three times. Upon hearing this shout for the first time, one new participant said, “I haven’t heard such shouting from men since my college football days!”
On the first day, few understand what they’re saying, but as the conference progresses, the mantra takes on new meaning.
God cares more about our hearts than anything else. The Bible has more to say about the heart than any other topic—24,232 of the Bible’s 31,102 verses mentioning or alluding to it. That means 77 percent of the Bible deals with the heart!
Being wholehearted is the theme of the Kingdom of God! This is the way into freedom. Living with a free heart under the power of the Holy Spirit is the source of our creativity, joy, courage, and strength. We’ve been put on this earth to live wholeheartedly.
As I conclude this book, it seems fitting to close with this one habit that encapsulates all of them. If we miss this habit, we will never become the courageous men and women that God created us to be. Being wholehearted is the fuel for all the rest. It’s in the combination of wholehearted living that we are empowered to keep fighting and not give in to the fears and anxiety that have plagued our lives.
Wholehearted living is your God-created nature in action—not just a concept, but an action that becomes a habit. Awakening each day with the spiritual, emotional, and mental conviction to live with authenticity in our marriage, family, job, and relationships is the core of living from the heart.
Live Free
Iranaeus, one of the early church fathers, must have been thinking about wholeheartedness when he wrote, “The glory of God is a man fully alive.”[i] Wholeheartedness is living as God’s image: alive and fully engaged with our heart, soul, mind, and strength in every facet of life. It’s the sum of who we are. It’s lining up our lives under the rubric of the Kingdom of God. Jesus was speaking of the wholehearted life when He said,
“The first of all the commandments is… you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:28–30)
This is truly the wholehearted life of freedom—the freedom to love with our entire being. It’s about belonging to Christ, worshipping Him, and finding intimate connection with the Holy Spirit. It’s loving God with the passion and power of God and breaking out of the spirit of fear. Wholehearted living is the summation of all the other habits coming together into the wonderful freedom of authenticity.
Loving from our heart, soul, mind, and strength is the true self that we have always longed for. It’s why we watch the movies and read the stories of people who have given their hearts and lives to a cause or a conviction. It’s how we define the word “heroic.” When we see men and women risking all to rescue someone, we are touched deeply because the theme resonates with something deep in our soul.
Pastor Steve
[i] Crossroads Initiative. https://www.crossroadsinitiative.com/media/articles/man-fully-alive-is-the-glory-of-god-st-irenaeus/
