Metropolitan Hierotheos on the heart as spiritual centre and its purification

The post presents Metropolitan Hierotheos's teaching from his book Orthodox Psychotherapy on the nature and purpose of the human heart. He explains that the heart is the spiritual centre of the human person, not merely the centre of emotions. It is the place where we are called to encounter God. The metropolitan references two scriptural passages to support this understanding.

In Ephesians 3:17, the Apostle Paul writes that Christ dwells in the heart through faith. In Romans 5:5, Paul states that God's love has been poured into the heart through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. He states that a condition exists for this indwelling: the purification of the heart.

This purification occurs through several practices that he lists explicitly: repentance, prayer, humility, obedience to God's commandments, and the guarding of the nous. The post emphasises that the Kingdom of God is not something we should only seek externally. Christ calls us to discover his presence within us. The final question posed is not simply whether one believes in God, but whether one is actively purifying the heart to receive him.