From an early age, we learn to attune ourselves to what is outside of us. We  become experts at reading the room, looking for what is expected and then  meeting that expectation so we will be loved by others and protected from pain.  Even the Christian life can be focused on learning and doing the right thing, the  expected thing, leaving us hoping our hearts will catch up with our behavior. 

But behavior doesn’t change a heart. It reveals it. Scripture calls us to a more  congruent life – one lived from the inside out, where our heart is connected to  God’s heart, and we respond to others – not out of duty or self-protection – but  out of an overflow of what we have received from Him. 

--Julie