Proverbs 21:2 English Standard Version (ESV) Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart.

When a dear friend told me that not everyone is introspective I was shocked. I thought we all were introspective. Not everyone is like me. Wow, really? I guess I was right in my own eyes. I never thought of it in any other way. Or did I?

I had little to learn from the definition of introspective so I looked at the introspective antonym, it is extrovert.  I had never been one of those but I knew people like that. I just never thought of them as being extroverts, only that they chose to be outgoing as a result of being introspective. I was wrong.

Perhaps it is a matter of not understanding the differences between the mind and the heart. God weighs the heart. To some that holds no meaning because they do not understand the issues of the heart as being the seat of choice. For the extrovert it has always been a matter of the mental aspects of decision making.

How can an introvert relate to the extrovert in terms of God’s view of the heart? Does the heart for an extrovert only mean emotional feelings that does not have the ability to make decisions? Do they only feel and in those terms become helpless to control those emotions? Do they rationalize how to deal with emotions in order to not become a victim to their emotions? I don’t know for sure because I am introspective.

I recognize that I was helpless to change my heart. I needed God to do that for me. That is a surrender of self to a higher power. Perhaps that is a difficult thing to do for an extrovert. Those are control issues. Turning over control to anyone for an extrovert has to be a rational decision of the mind. It is the extrovert that enlist in the military and accepts that rank has it place and seeks advancement up the chain of command in order to be in charge.

Not so in God’s Kingdom.

Deuteronomy 32:2 English Standard Version (ESV) May my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew, like gentle rain upon the tender grass, and like showers upon the herb.

Love me tender, love me true, never let me go.

Those are secular lyrics from a song sung in a popular movie from our past. Whenever we hear those words we are transported back to that past and good feelings about good times.

How many of us remember that these words from Deuteronomy 32 were written there? Deuteronomy is one of those books of the Pentateuch that is often thought of as legalistic in nature. It is often received as an ultimatum. Many of us tend to stick to the good news chapters. We want to hear mercy, forgiveness, and everlasting love.

God loved us in Deuteronomy. Finding His tender love amongst all the words of Deuteronomy requires some searching for that tenderness. We tend to stray away from much of the Pentateuch because it contains some harsh realities. So does this present world. Those harsh realities of Deuteronomy are still true today, but for a world that has rejected God and His teachings.

It is important to tenderly love the lost but we must not forget mercy can only be given to those convicted. It is not our job to convict the lost. That is the external work of the Holy Spirit preparing the lost for an escape from the bondage to sin. We cannot offer them a key to their chains unless they first see those chains for themselves.

“I was once like you.” Those words cannot be received until the lost see themselves as lost.

“Where are you?” That needs to come first. Just as God called out to Adam, knowing where Adam was, it was for Adam’s sake that God asked “Where are you?” Self-examination must come first.