Zacchaeus could have stayed in his head. Instead, his heart sent him climbing. (Luke 19:1-10)
I’ve always prided myself on being a thinker. I like to gather facts, weigh the odds, and reason things out. The more I know, the more control I have. But the Bible makes a distinction that often unsettles me: knowledge isn’t the same as action. Truth in your head doesn’t necessarily make its way into your life.
Faith in the head keeps score; faith in the heart changes the game. Here’s why moving out of your head and into your heart makes all the difference.
Baseball season is winding down again. It’s all over except for the playoffs, and you may or may not be into these last games unless your team is still playing. Mine is not, making me mildly interested in what happens now, but beyond that, it’s: “How many days until spring training?” Oh well, when it comes to baseball, hope always springs eternal.
I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. (Ecclesiastes 3:10-11)
If this series has taught me anything, it’s this: living in my head made my world small and immediate.
In my head, I chase what was safe, logical, and manageable. I worry about how things look. I measure success in short-term wins — a good argument here, a diversion there.
But that kind of living doesn’t last. It doesn’t satisfy. And it doesn’t leave a legacy.
It has been disappointing not to receive many responses to our series, “Returning Respect Back to Women.” While pondering this, I had to take a long look at myself and the results of this series in me. And then I thought I would check out another series, the 2025 Major League Baseball regular season ends on Sunday, with all 30 teams playing on the final day. Then the playoffs begin with the World Series concluding by early November. Now that is the kind of series I can understand!
But honestly, I need not look much farther than my own nose to determine why our responses have been few. Helping men like myself move from their heads to their hearts is challenging. Why is this so hard? Do we even know what this looks like? When it comes to actually moving beyond my limiting beliefs and into the transformative power of heart-led action, empowered by the Holy Spirit, I’m more like a ballplayer without a glove.
I’ve come to see something sobering: when I withhold respect from the women in my life, I don’t just fail them — as a Christian, I misrepresent Christ.
That’s a hard fact but true.
For too long, I lived in my head. I thought respect was a nice idea, something I could agree with on paper. But in practice, I often minimized, dismissed, or stayed silent. I failed to honor women as Christ does. And when I did that, I wasn’t representing Jesus. I was distorting the truth about Him.
For years, a voice lived in my head that would not let me rest.
It said I wasn’t enough.
It replayed every mistake.
It whispered I was failing — as a husband, a father, a man.
And I believed it.
The louder that voice grew, the quieter I became. I stopped speaking up. I stopped reaching out. Instead of offering love, I withheld it. Instead of showing respect, I withdrew. The lies in my head shaped how I lived. My silence spoke louder than any words could.
Returning Respect to the Women in My Life — Part 4
Men, I need to say this plainly: for too long, I thought I was “good enough” in my relationships. I showed up. I was polite. I did what was expected. On the surface, everything looked fine. But if you asked the women in my life, they’d tell you something was missing.
And they’d be right.
Because the truth is, when I live exclusively in my head, I can keep a conversation going, but it’s not going to make a connection.
We’re taking a break from our series, “Bringing Respect Back to Women,” for a reminder from Marti. Of course, this piece is all about bringing respect back to women, in fact, it’s a practical way to get these truths out of our heads and into our hearts. Do it, gentlemen, and tell us how it goes. Don’t even worry that she read this and knows all about it. It won’t matter. Horton Voss, the man who taught me about this, did it every Wednesday of his marriage to Edna. And Edna was always captured by the anticipation and delight.
by Marti Fischer
Whether you are married, dating, about to… thinking of… or already getting a divorce, consider this: Just stop. Stop the complexity, and start making your life more simple. Buy your wife, your date, or your departing partner Roses on Wednesday — tomorrow, Wednesday, September 17th, and every Wednesday thereafter.
I weighed the risks. I measured the costs. I analyzed every decision before I made it. On the outside, it looked like I was careful. On the inside, the truth was simpler: I was afraid.
And here’s the hard part to admit — that fear didn’t just hold me back personally. It kept me silent when I should have spoken. It kept me passive when I should have acted. It kept me from respecting the women in my life the way Christ calls me to.
I lived in my head, and my head told me: Stay safe. Don’t rock the boat. Don’t step out too far.
But the head isn’t built for courage. The heart is.
I have to admit something that’s not easy to say out loud: for years, I thought knowing the Bible was enough.
I could quote verses. I could explain doctrines. I could argue my point. On paper, I looked like a man of faith. But in practice? My life didn’t line up. My respect for women was inconsistent. My love for others was shallow. My obedience to God was assumed, but not anything you could track.
The truth is, I was storing God’s Word in my head — but not in my heart. And when it stays in the head, transformation never happens.
John Fischer The Catch 