Habits and Heart: When Jesus Asks, What Do You Love?

Devotional

Day 1: The Heart Check of "What Do You Want?"

Jesus’ question to the disciples cuts through pretense, exposing the desires that drive us. Like trading cards piled in a basement, our loves accumulate quietly, shaping habits we barely notice. This question isn’t about surface-level goals but the core cravings that compete with devotion to God. It invites honesty about what truly captivates our time, energy, and imagination. To answer requires courage to name the things we’ve let sit on the throne of our hearts. Only then can we begin to reorient our loves toward the One who designed them. [49:12]

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! … Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, ‘What are you seeking?’” (John 1:29, 38, ESV)

Reflection: What activity, relationship, or pursuit quietly demands more of your attention than you’d like to admit? How might naming this before God create space for Him to recalibrate your desires?

Day 2: When Good Desires Become Misplaced Loves

Belonging, competition, or even leadership aren’t sinful—until they eclipse our love for Christ. Like a collector obsessing over cardboard treasures, we can devote years to secondary things while calling them “harmless.” These loves often start small, like a child begging for a dollar-store pack of cards, but grow into forces that redefine our priorities. Jesus’ question isn’t meant to shame but to reveal where our habits have quietly rewritten our worship. The gap between what we claim to love and what our routines prove we love is where grace begins its work. [52:08]

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. (1 John 2:15–16, ESV)

Reflection: What “good thing” in your life has subtly become a master instead of a servant? How might thanking God for its gifts while releasing its hold on you bring freedom?

Day 3: Replacing Habits with Holy Dependence

Placing a Bible over a phone or fasting from snacks aren’t magic fixes—they’re training wheels for a heart learning to rely on God. Willpower alone fails because habits aren’t just actions; they’re expressions of what we trust. Like a meal prayer that shifts focus from self-sufficiency to gratitude, small acts of dependence crack open our clenched fists. These practices aren’t about perfection but posturing ourselves to receive grace. When we anchor our first and last moments to prayer, we admit our need for the One who sustains every breath. [58:31]

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” (Luke 9:23–24, ESV)

Reflection: Which daily habit most often feels like a battle between your willpower and your weaknesses? How could approaching it as an invitation to depend on God change that struggle?

Day 4: Loving God Beyond "I Think, Therefore I Am"

Descartes reduced humanity to reasoning machines, but Jesus calls us to love with heart, soul, mind, and strength. Holiness isn’t a math problem to solve but a relationship to cultivate. Trying to “think our way” to godliness is like studying a sunset without ever marveling at its colors. Scripture reading becomes lifeless when treated as a task rather than a conversation. To love God wholly means letting truth move from our heads to our hands, transforming how we work, play, and even collect cards. [59:15]

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these. (Mark 12:30–31, ESV)

Reflection: Where has your faith become more about intellectual agreement than embodied love? What practical step could help you engage God with your whole being today?

Day 5: Receiving Blessing to Live Recalibrated

Hands open to receive God’s blessing are postured to release lesser loves. The Aaronic prayer isn’t just a closing ritual—it’s a commissioning to carry peace into our habits. Like a collector parting with cards to make space for lasting treasure, we’re sent to live with recalibrated hearts. Blessing reminds us we’re loved not for our perfection but for His. As we step into the week, the question lingers: Will our routines reflect frantic self-reliance or trust in the One who keeps us? [01:10:40]

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. (Numbers 6:24–26, ESV)

Reflection: What would it look like to begin tomorrow with open hands, whispering “Lord, keep me” instead of “I’ll try harder”? How might this shift your approach to a recurring struggle?

Sermon Summary

Jesus’ question in John 1:38, “What do you want?” reaches deeper than irritated words toward two men following behind him. The question checks the heart. It asks what a person really loves, what desire is pulling the heart, and what that desire is shaping every day.

Love drives habits. Trading cards, belonging, competition, power, and freedom can all begin as good things, but good things can take over when they become the number one love. The desire to belong can make a person change into somebody else. Competition can lead to cheating, cutting corners, and hurting people just to finish first. Power can turn somebody into a power tripper who uses influence for personal benefit. Freedom can become “my truth over the truth” when choice comes before God.

Bad habits cannot finally be changed by just thinking harder. The world says to wake up, do better, find a new trick, and push through with willpower. Willpower can work for a season, but it cannot recalibrate the heart. A Bible sitting on top of a phone may work for a week, until the phone gets picked up anyway. Descartes said, “I think, therefore I am,” but people are not just brains on sticks who can reason their way into holiness.

Jesus gives the center of the matter in Matthew 22. Love the Lord with all the heart, soul, and mind, and love the neighbor as oneself. Holiness grows not merely by thinking differently, but by loving God more deeply. Love has to come first, and then thought follows. The heart needs to be pointed again toward the One who deserves its whole affection.

Prayer at the beginning and end of the day shifts attention back to the Lord. Gratitude turns life, breath, family, and even a sunrise or sunset into reasons for thanksgiving. Prayer before a meal remembers that God gives the breath and strength behind every dollar earned. Time in Scripture makes the heart more sensitive to the Spirit’s voice. Fasting teaches total dependence on the One who provides, especially when the pantry starts calling.

Grace does not promise perfection. God forgives the person who slips up, yet Christ’s question still stands: “What do you want?” The heart must stop, reflect, and honestly name whatever is taking God’s place. Love for God and neighbor becomes the path out of the same cycle and into a life shaped by Christ.

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Key Takeaways

1. Jesus asks what the heart wants [49:12] Jesus’ question is not looking for a quick religious answer. The question presses beneath words like “I love God” and asks what the heart actually runs after. The deepest desire often shows itself through attention, habits, spending, and daily thought patterns. A truthful answer begins where excuses end. [49:12]
2. Good loves can become ruling loves [53:23] Belonging, competition, leadership, and freedom are not automatically bad things. These desires become destructive when they demand first place and begin shaping identity apart from God. A good gift becomes an idol when losing it feels more unbearable than disobeying Christ. The heart needs regular recalibration because even good things can overtake it. [53:23]
3. Willpower cannot make hearts holy [59:51] Reason can identify a bad habit, but reason alone cannot uproot the love beneath it. A person can force change for a little while and still remain pulled toward the same old desire. Holiness requires more than a better system or a clever trick. Love for God must become stronger than love for the thing that keeps calling. [59:51]
4. Prayer and gratitude redirect desire [01:03:03] Prayer gives the first and final moments of the day back to God. Gratitude breaks the illusion that life is self-made by naming breath, provision, beauty, and family as gifts. Prayer before meals pushes against proud independence and remembers the Provider behind the provision. These small practices slowly train the heart to look upward. [63:03]
5. Fasting teaches dependence on God [01:06:32] Fasting exposes how quickly appetite can become a master. Hunger reveals that self-reliance is not enough and that willpower is not the same as dependence. Every temptation during a fast becomes an opportunity to turn again toward the Lord. Sacrifice makes room for a deeper desire for the One who provides all things.

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Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[46:50] - Loved and Belong Here
[47:15] - Habits, Good and Bad
[47:39] - The Questions Jesus Asks
[49:12] - What Do You Want?
[50:39] - Trading Cards and What Drives Desire
[52:37] - When Good Things Take Over
[54:06] - Competition, Power, and Freedom
[57:48] - Why Willpower Does Not Last
[60:41] - The Greatest Commandment
[61:56] - Habits That Recalibrate the Heart
[64:59] - Scripture and Sensitivity to the Spirit
[66:32] - Fasting and Total Dependence
[68:36] - Reflecting on What the Heart Loves
[70:07] - A Blessing for the Week

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

John 1:38
“And Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, ‘What are you seeking?’ And they said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’” [49:12]

Matthew 22:37-40
“And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.’” [01:00:55]

Numbers 6:24-26
“The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.” [01:10:55]

Observation questions

In John 1:38, what are the two men doing when Jesus turns and asks them, “What are you seeking?” How do they answer Him? [49:12]
What kinds of desires can begin as good things but become harmful when they take first place in a person’s heart?
According to Matthew 22:37-40, what are the two greatest commands, and which parts of a person are named in the command to love God? [01:01:21]
What practices were named as ways to redirect the heart toward God: at the beginning and end of the day, around meals, in Scripture, and during fasting? [01:02:16]

Interpretation questions

Jesus’ question, “What are you seeking?” is not spoken in irritation but reaches toward the heart. What does this question reveal about the difference between saying a person loves Jesus and what that person actually pursues each day? [49:33]
Belonging, competition, leadership, and freedom can all be good gifts. What signs show that one of these good things has become a ruling love that is taking God’s place? [54:46]
Jesus commands love for God with heart, soul, and mind, not merely correct thoughts. Why can willpower or a new system help for a season but still fail to change the deeper habit? [59:51]
Loving God and loving neighbor belong together in Matthew 22. How might a person’s pursuit of power, winning, acceptance, or personal freedom affect the way that person treats neighbors? [55:24]

Application questions

If Jesus asked, “What do you want?” what might your schedule, screen time, spending, conversations, or daydreams reveal about the answer? [01:08:36]
Is there a good thing in your life—such as belonging, achievement, a hobby, influence, comfort, or freedom—that has begun to demand too much of your heart? What does it look like when it has too much control? [53:39]
Where are you most tempted to “cut corners,” prove yourself, or put yourself first in order to win? How could love for God and love for neighbor change one specific situation this week? [54:50]
What usually gets your first attention in the morning and your last attention at night? What small, sincere prayer could help you give those moments to the Lord? [01:03:10]
What is one ordinary gift from God that you often overlook—breath, work, food, family, beauty, or another provision? How could gratitude for that gift reshape your attitude this week? [01:03:26]
What could make prayer before a meal more than a quick routine for you or your household? How does remembering God as the Provider challenge the idea that you are fully self-made? [01:04:19]
Consider choosing one simple practice for the week: five minutes in Scripture, prayer at bedtime, gratitude each day, or a fast from food or another comfort. Which practice would most help you depend on God rather than your own willpower, and what might make it difficult? [01:06:32]

Sermon Clips

39s

#HeartCheckFaith

“Church, when Jesus asks you, what do you love? What will you say? Will you say, yeah, Jesus. I love you. I do. I do. I'm not asking about that. I'm asking what will your heart say? Is there something other than God that is taking your attention in life and causing you to live that every day, the same cycle, the same bad habits?”

46s

#DependOnGod

“See, these practices plus many more can recalibrate our hearts back to god towards when he asks us what we want. We can say to him that we desire to have him in our hearts, our minds, and our entire being. We can do all of this, but we must rely on the Lord for guidance and help. We cannot think our way to loving God. We cannot think our way to being holy. We cannot think our way out of habits.”

73s

#LoveBeforeLogic

“way of thinking we see in many places of life. I learned in in university study about the enlightenment period and, a French philosopher named René Descartes, and Descartes thought this way. He coined the phrase, I think, therefore, I am. This quote may be confusing, but Descartes is plainly saying, the very act of thinking is why we exist. Descartes tried to doubt everything around him to find a solid truth. Descartes' way of thinking makes humans essentially just brains on sticks. alone, we are thinking things and we can reason our way to change and we can reason our way to holiness. But we cannot strictly reason our way to holiness. We have to love our way to holiness. And that's the component that Descartes was missing. Yes. Is we need to we need to love first, and then we need to think.”

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