Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that’s where life starts. … a sad heart makes it hard to get through the day. …a miserable heart means a miserable life. MSG Proverbs 4:23, 5:13b, 5:15
Here is what we know based on scripture and our own experience with life; the condition of your heart determines how you live life. It doesn’t matter if you go to church or you don’t go to church. It doesn’t matter if you are financially wealthy, struggling or in between. It doesn’t matter if you have a lot of Instagram hits or just five followers. There is an undeniable connection between the health of your heart and how you live life.
The other day I’m in line at Sheetz. A very young girl is at the counter getting yelled at by a much older lady. No matter what the young girl did, the older lady just couldn’t be happy. She was awful. I watched the young girl just begin to melt. I was next in line, I walked to the counter and said, “I’m not in a rush, take a deep breath and relax. You did everything right, that lady was awful.” Why would the older lady be so comfortable shredding this young girl? Simple. Her heart was a mess.
I want to share with you the big thing a lot of people in our culture and churches just don’t get. Your heart condition is actually your true spiritual condition. Please hear me, the spiritual condition of your heart, shows up in life. It’s undeniable. If you are broken, it shows up in your relationships, marriage, family, work and how you respond to the challenges of life. If you are prideful, it shows up in your relationships, marriage, family, work and how you respond to the challenges of life. If you are wounded, it shows up in your relationships, marriage, family, work and how you respond to the challenges of life. If God’s grace has crushed you and you experience God to the core of who you are, you can’t hide it.
Because it’s spiritual, you must know, all hell is coming against you, through the unfair hits of life, to shred your heart and take it out. And, all of heaven is coming, through Jesus, to redeem it. Your heart is the battle ground of the spiritual war. Why? It’s the core of your live. It’s what determines how you live. It’s where you hear and sense God. It’s everything.
This is how scripture describes what is taking place around you:
This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels. 13 Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. MSG Ephesians 6:12-13
To walk into the day and think, “I don’t need to do a thing, I can live in lollipop land and it will be sunny and happy every day.” You are very naive and it will probably cause you deep pain. So what we are doing in this series is trying to awaking us to our true heart condition because this is what we know,
…your heart; that’s where life starts. … a sad heart makes it hard to get through the day. …a miserable heart means a miserable life. MSG Proverbs 4:23, 5:13b, 5:15
Let’s walk through the heart test. In your relationship with Christ, are any of the following six statements true?
You experience shame, condemnation, a sense of being disqualified or unable to please Him. You rarely experience, to your core, God’s grace, freedom, joy and being redeemed. You don’t believe or live like you are in a battle. When you face adversity, you assume God is no longer with you. To relax, you would rather watch TV, veg out or play games over reading scripture or prayer. Think about it, are you trying to get God into your story or are you giving your life to His story?
In life, are any of the following five statements true?
You feel tired, worn down, like you are in a never ending fog and feel like checking out. You feel insecure, then try to control everything, this leads you to experience fear, doubt, worry. You rarely belly laugh or weep. You have all-consuming but never-satisfied selfish wants. You easily engage in gossip and feel jealousy.
In your relationship with others, are any of the following five statements true?
You need people know who you are, what you accomplished, who you know, etc. You view people as a resource, what they can give you. You expect others to do things you don’t do. You have a trail of broken relationships behind you. You struggle to build others up, see the best in others, it’s easier to be negative.
In your relationship with your spouse, are any of the following five statements true?
When your spouse asks you for what they want/need, you refuse and create excuses. You don’t talk, listen, pray for and protect your spouse spiritually. You don’t see or understand that God placed your spouse in your care. You’re so controlling, everything has to go your way or you get angry and manipulative. You struggle to communicate, you check out, you get passive aggressive or angry, etc.
Specific to men, are the following statements true? Men: you feel bored or worn down and have accepted hidden addictions/habits like anger, drinking, pornography, compulsive or excessive behaviors, etc.
Specific to women, are the following statements true? Women: you are too busy and make excuses why you can’t slow down leading you to hidden addictions/habits like not being able to say no and prioritize, romance stories, drinking, etc.
What does this heart test reveal about the spiritual condition of your heart? Are you doing well? Are you struggling?
This brings us to the first way to wreck your heart. Ready? Take this test and ignore the results. Be completely aware that something isn’t right and do nothing about it. No changes. No thoughts about changing. No new priorities. Hear it today at 9:30 am and go right back to into the regular routines of life by 12 noon like nothing ever happened.
What happens to every area of your life that you ignore? It dies. Every relationship you ignore, it will die. Ignore your yard, the weeds will grow and the grass will die. Ignore your homework and studying, your grades will die. Ignore your body, it will pay the price the older you get. Ignore your finances, it will cost you later. Every area we ignore dies. If you want to wreck your heart, take the test, ignore the results.
So why do we find it so easy to take the heart test, go passive and ignore the results? Because we are in survival mode and we believe that it’s easier to go passive and push the problem into tomorrow. Truth is, going passive and ignoring the results will cost us deeply. Because here is what we know,
…your heart; that’s where life starts. … a sad heart makes it hard to get through the day. …a miserable heart means a miserable life. MSG Proverbs 4:23, 5:13b, 5:15
Have you ever seen a tractor pull? I share this with young couples who want to get married. There is a tractor and they hook it up to a ‘pull.’ It’s a sled that has heavy weight in the rear of the pull and as the tractor pulls it, the weight moves closer to the front, at an angle, and it gets heavier and heavier as the tractor moves forward. Sometimes the tractor makes a full pull, meaning it goes the distance. Other times the engine explodes and fire goes everywhere. It’s pretty cool to watch. That’s life. As we move into the future, the weight of life gets heavier and heavier. As you ignore the heart issues of today, it will come back to bite you, with interest, tomorrow.
We ignore our heart condition, we push the problem into tomorrow and then tomorrow shows up. What happens? We are worn down, exhausted and maybe a little depressed. What do we think we need? A break. We need a break from life. We think, “I need a hunting or shopping trip,” “I need a weekend away,” “I need my happy drink.” Remember I told you that your heart condition is your spiritual condition? You don’t need a break, you need a touch from God to heal your heart. Where a break is good and healthy, you need a spiritual touch to redeem your spiritual heart.
That’s why God said,
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. NIV Ezekiel 36:25-27
How did you do on the test? What did it reveal about your spiritual condition? To wreck your heart, ignore everything you heard today. Here’s what you need to do, make no changes. No thoughts about changing. No new priorities. Hear it today at 9:30 am and go right back to into the regular routines of life by 12 noon like nothing ever happened.
Question: when the test is telling you your heart is wounded, what do you think happens when you ignore the results?
My last comment would be to people who consider themselves mature Christians. Some of the most unhealthy people you will ever meet are people who think of themselves as mature Christians. Why? Because we know a lot. We can tell people, “I read that book,” “I walked through that discipleship,” “I was at the conference,” “I have hopped and shopped churches and seen it all.” We know a lot but it doesn’t show up in our behaviors. Example: I know that I need God but I don’t pursue God. I know God’s grace has freed me but I don’t work hard in my marriage or work or church. I know facts about God it just doesn’t show up in my behaviors. I know I am supposed to give, tithe, it just doesn’t show up in my behaviors. I know I’m supposed to forgive but I won’t until they understand and feel the pain they caused me. I know I am supposed to trust God but I can’t because I have a predetermined idea of the way life must look and I have to make it happen. Again, we can know a lot of facts about God, we can know a lot of information about Christianity but we struggle to have it show up in our behaviors.
The thing we, people who view themselves as mature Christians, struggle with is admitting, I took that test, it reveals that I am actually miserable, but I am so filled with pride that will never admit my true spiritual condition. I will never admit that I need God as badly today as the first day I met Him. My heart is a wreck. My marriage is dying. I feel dazed, confused, exhausted and maybe depressed but I will do nothing to change it because I know a lot. I’m going to go passive, push my problem into tomorrow.
I love you enough to tell you, maturity has nothing to do with knowledge. Maturity has nothing to do with a position at church. Maturity has nothing to do with how many years you have ‘in’ as a Christian. Maturity, according to the Bible [John 1 & 2] is found in obedience. Maturity is found, according to 1 Corinthians 13, in experiencing God’s love and giving God’s love.
Here is what we know,
…your heart; that’s where life starts. … a sad heart makes it hard to get through the day. …a miserable heart means a miserable life. MSG Proverbs 4:23, 5:13b, 5:15
If you want to wreck your heart, take this test and ignore the results.