HOW IS YOUR HEART ?
By W. G. Guy
There is a commercial on TV that askes, “How is your heart?” as it promotes a device that records the rate of your heart beat. The condition of your physical pumping heart is important for maintaining your physical life. However, there is an even more important heart condition that determines the quality of your spiritual and eternal life.
Psalm 119:11 – Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
The word heart appears 850 times in the Holy Bible: more than 835 times the word used is not referring to the organ in your chest that keeps pumping blood through your body. The word used that refers to your heart in both the Hebrew Old Testament, and Greek New Testament, means the center of your being; what motives you; your desires; your interests, your feelings, and your will. Basically, your heart is the center of your being where the issues of love and faith dwell. It is symbolically the center of your physical being, in your chest as represented by the pumping heart. Scripture identifies your heart as the place where your intentions reside; where the Word of God can have its influence.
Hebrews 4:12 – For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
The question is asked at times, “What is in your heart”. It is the heart where we believe and to have faith. It is the heart that is inhabited by the Spirit. It is the heart that is moved by God. The mind is always secondary, responding to what is in the heart.
The answer to what is in your heart usually is not spoken but becomes evident by what is seen by your actions and responses to outside situations and circumstances. Contrary situations and circumstances can be pressures on you. Your heart then is like a tube of toothpaste that when pressure is applied, what is inside comes out.
Luke 6:45 – A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
Do you have bitterness and resentment in your heart towards any one. If so, it won’t take much for it to come out when stimulated or pressured. Likewise, if you have genuine love and affection toward a person, it will show. What is in your heart will be made known by how you act, behave, or react.
Romans 10:9-10 - That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Your heart needs to be protected because the enemy tries to assault it. God has given us spiritual armor to protect our vital parts as we engage in spiritual warfare against the wiles of our spiritual (and mortal enemy). We, as Christians, are all engaged in spiritual warfare even though many are not aware of it, or being taught about it in most churches. Your heart is frequently the target of the enemy as he wants to put evil thoughts and desires, and such things, into your heart. Thus we need to guard and protect what is in our hearts.
Ephesians 610-13 – Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
1 Peter 5:8-9 – Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
Note that one of the pieces of this spiritual armor is the breastplate of righteousness that covers the heart; where love and faith are centered.
Ephesians 6:14 – Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
1 Thessalonians 5:7-9 – For they that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
Your heart is a very sensitive and tender place; it has a great effect on how you live this life. Your love life is one of the main features of the heart since it focuses on your affections; be it toward a person, a hobby, a sport, or anything that is your intense desire. A marital relationship is a function of the heart as you hold your spouse tightly and intimately in your heart.
I loved my wife so intently that even though she passed away a year ago, I still hold my love for her as she is still in my heart. This love also applies to holding Jesus and His love in my heart, even though I have not seen or touched Him; He is still in my heart. Thus faith and faithfulness is also a matter of the heart.
So the question is. “What is in your heart?” As stated before, what is in your heart will become evident by how you live, what you do, how you talk, and how you interact or react to others. For Christians, love is to be the main feature of our lives. It is a reflection of God’s love for us and what He did for us.
John 3:16 – For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should notperish, but have everlasting life.
Jesus even told us what the greatest level of love is that we can have.
John 15:12-13 – This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Note that love gives, that is why the word charity is used in the place of love in 1 Corinthians 13, called the love chapter in the Bible. As Christians, God puts His love in our hearts by His Spirit.
Romans 5:5 – And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
We therefore, by love, prove that we are God’s children by showing His love to others, as He has showed His love for us.
1 John 4:7-11 – Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
The love of God manifesting in you is proof that you are a child of God.
1 John 3:10 – In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
This condition of the heart is so vital that we must do all that we can to protect it; because it determines our eternal existence.
Proverbs 4:23 – Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
Therefore it is very important to guard what we put into our heart because it determines what we speak, how we act, and what we do toward others. So the question remains; “How is your heart?”
