📖 Biblical Definition
The undivided heart is the heart God Himself unites — that fears His name without rival, walks in His truth without compromise, and is wholly His. It is David’s prayer in Psalm 86:11: "Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name." The opposite is the divided heart of Hosea: "Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty" (Hosea 10:2) — half toward the LORD and half toward Baal. James 1:8 calls the double-minded man "unstable in all his ways." The undivided heart is therefore not natural — it is a gift to be asked, a unity God grants the willing soul. Christian men must pray daily for it.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
UNDIVIDED, a. Not divided; not parted or separated; whole; entire; not given to two interests.
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1. Not divided; not separated or disunited; unbroken; whole; entire. 2. Not given to or shared between several objects; as undivided attention, undivided affection. In Scripture, the heart that fears the Lord wholly, with no rival affection or competing allegiance.
📖 Key Scripture
Psalm 86:11 — "Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name."
1 Kings 8:61 — "Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes…"
Deuteronomy 6:5 — "And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might."
Ezekiel 11:19 — "And I will give them one heart…"
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Replaced by “balance” that quietly gives idols a seat at the table.
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The respectable Christian life is often praised for its “balance”—some God, some career, some leisure, some loyalty, all in moderation. The heart is not united; it is partitioned, and the partitions are kept polite.
David asked for something rarer and more dangerous: a heart welded into one, fearing one Name, walking one way. The undivided heart does not abandon callings; it submits them all to a single Lord, and refuses any rival a chair.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Hebrew yachad and shālēm — united, whole.
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H3162 — yachad — unitedness, oneness
H8003 — shālēm — whole, complete, perfect
H3045 — yādaʻ — to know — the fruit of an united heart
Usage
"A united heart is not partitioned with polite idols."
"David did not pray for breadth, but for oneness."
"Two altars in one chest is not maturity; it is faulty (Hos 10:2)."