We all know that heart condition is a major issue in good health. We have to work at keeping our physical hearts in good condition if we want to have active, long lives. But my question is directed at your inner heart’s condition—the real you that we often refer to as our heart.
For example, you need to check and see if you have a hard heart. Proverbs 28:14 says, “Blessed is the man who always fears the Lord, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble.”
What are the symptoms of a hard heart? Well, have you noticed that you don’t care to read your Bible much lately? Have you seen a decline in your desire to pray? Do you find that you don’t care as much about other people and their problems as you used to? Is it difficult for God to get your attention these days and speak to you? If you have some of these symptoms, check it out; you may have a hard heart.
This hard heart condition can creep up on you. You don’t realize it’s happening until one day you take a look at yourself and see that your love for Jesus has grown cold. You’re in that mediocre state, that lukewarm condition; it feels like you’re in a desert—all dried up with a crusty, hard heart.
Interestingly, you can have a hard heart and appear to be just fine. First Corinthians 13 says we can look real good, work miracles, speak like angels, impress all kinds of people, but without love, it amounts to absolutely nothing. A hard heart is a loveless heart.
How do we cure a hard heart? With water from the Living Well. Just as water softens a desert land and makes it bloom like a garden, the Water of Jesus Christ poured on your heart will soften it up again.
Get back to basics—loving Jesus. Meditating on what he’s done for you; remembering how he’s redeemed you; reciting how much you have to be thankful for and how much Jesus loves you. Re-establish those disciplines of consistent daily time in the Word and in prayer. Make knowing Jesus your highest priority. Get back to that first love. That’s the prescription for a hard heart.
Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” Most of us are better at taking care of our physical heart than we are our spiritual heart. Have you been guarding your heart lately?
For example, your heart should be a cheerful heart. Is it? Proverbs 15 says the cheerful heart has a continual feast, and a happy heart makes the face cheerful. It also tells us that a cheerful look brings joy to the heart. Would your friends call you a cheerful person? Is your heart cheerful?
Maybe you’re thinking, “Life is tough for me right now. Things are going very badly. You can’t expect me to have a cheerful heart when bad things are happening.” Well, while it’s true that there are times in our lives when happiness seems like a stranger, even then we can know a cheerful heart—a heart that underneath the pain is still at peace because of Jesus.
Ephesians 5:19 says, “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Here is the secret to a cheerful heart: Singing, praising, making music in your heart, and giving thanks at all times. The Apostle Paul wrote these words, and he knew more hardship than we can imagine. Yet in the midst of much trouble, he said, “Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord.”
How much singing do you do? You may not be a soloist, but you can still sing to the Lord. Sing in the midst of your problems; sing when you don’t want to; sing when you feel terrible. Sing praises to God, and see how it cheers your heart up. I promise you, it will work.
Proverbs 27:19 says, “As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.” So, if your spiritual heart condition were known to all of us, what would it reflect?
For example, would we see a greedy heart? In Ezekiel 33:31 we read “My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice. With their mouths they express devotion, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain.” Wow, that’s a serious heart condition—greedy for unjust gain.
Jesus said, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” This greedy heart problem can take over before you know what’s happened if you’re not on your guard against all kinds of greed.
There’s greed for power, the drive to have authority and influence over other people. And greed for prestige and fame. Many people live for recognition from others. Of course, greed for material possessions is very commonplace. This passage in Ezekiel talked about being greedy for unjust gain. Trying to get something for nothing. Wanting to win the lottery and be rich without working for it. Becoming deceitful and dishonest in order to gain some money or possessions or power. That’s a greedy heart.
The Psalmist wrote, “Turn my heart toward your statues and not toward selfish gain” (Ps. 119:36). That’s a very good prayer if your heart tends to be greedy. Turning it toward the Word of God and away from selfish gain will cure you of a greedy heart.
In Psalm 51:10 we have that famous prayer of David: “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” David was desperate to have his heart purified, because he had fallen and sinned badly. You know the story of his lust for Bathsheba and how that led him to adultery and murder. His heart was very dirty because David had deliberately and willfully disobeyed God and done what he knew was wrong to do.
And in this Psalm he begs God to give him a pure heart again. Maybe that’s where you are today. You know your heart is dirty and you really want it to be pure again. Well, God is in the business of cleaning us up, and he is waiting to be merciful to you. All you have to do is follow David’s example and confess your sin, openly and honestly. Confess it to God, be willing to make restitution if that is feasible or necessary, and come clean. Stop covering it up, stop rationalizing it away; stop trying to pretend it’s not a big deal. Just come clean before God and he will gladly and graciously give you a pure heart again.
Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matt. 5:8). When your heart is pure before God, you will be able to see him, both in eternity and here on this earth. By that I mean you’ll know his presence in your life, you won’t feel alone or abandoned, and you’ll have that incredible peace that comes when the accounts between you and God are clear.
And how do we keep our hearts pure? Psalm 119:9 – 11 answers that question: “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” Purity of heart comes to us when we live according to the Word of God and hide it in our hearts. There is no other way.
There’s another common heart condition that some of you now are experiencing—a broken heart. Has someone disappointed you terribly? Has a relationship been severed? Have you suffered the loss of one very dear to you? Those things truly break our hearts and the pain is deep and sometimes very dark.
The Psalmist wrote: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18). Did you realize that when your heart is broken, the Lord is especially close to you? That’s his promise to you, and furthermore he says he will save you.
Now, I don’t know how he’s going to work in your situation to save you; it may not be the way you would do it, but you can trust your God. He is trustworthy, and when he says he will save those who are brokenhearted, that’s exactly what he means. It’s not going to last forever; he has something good planned for you.
Again in Psalm 147:3 we are told that “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” If you will go to God with your pain, he will heal it and bind it up so that it won’t be unbearable.
I just want to encourage you, to bring you a word that will bind your broken heart and remind you that God has not forgotten you. Indeed, he is very close to those who have broken hearts. Remember, he understands your pain because he’s been there. The heart of Jesus was broken for you, and God’s heart was broken as he gave his only Son to die. We serve a wounded Savior, one who has suffered and understands the broken heart. But the great news is, he is also our Great Physician and he is the one who can heal your broken heart.
In Psalm 119:32 we read “I run in the path of your commands for you have set my heart free.” He will set your heart free today—free from the unbearable pain of a broken heart—if you will run to him, obey him, and trust him. I hope you will allow his Word and his presence to heal the wounds of your broken heart.