How Is Your Heart?
June 16, 2023
To Inspire:
How’s your heart? I don’t mean your physical heart – all of us likely are getting plenty of information and insight on our physical heart and how to better care for it.
I mean your spiritual heart – your soul, the place where our deepest sense of identity, love, meaning and purpose is found. For people of faith, it’s that place where God resides deep inside of you – beckoning you to live the greatness He designed you for.
Just as our physical heart can become damaged, making it difficult for it to function properly, so too can our spiritual heart become damaged, making it difficult for it to function well. The diseases of the spiritual heart are many: childhood trauma, grief, isolation, lack of forgiveness (to yourself or others), marital or family conflict, even selfishness and self-centeredness. All of these can corrode our spiritual hearts so that they do not function well. And with a damaged spiritual heart it is harder to love and be loved – to experience the joy we were made for.
Perhaps this weekend, do a diagnostic test on your spiritual heart by asking yourself the following questions:
- Is something in my life keeping me from living with true freedom and joy – what is it and how can I address it more effectively;
- Is there someone that has hurt me that I need to forgive – so that my heart is not encumbered by the burden of unforgiveness;
- Is there someone that I have hurt that I need to ask for forgiveness (we can do that even with a deceased loved one);
- Is there a lack of gratitude for all of the blessings in my life?
Just as exercise and proper food can help heal our physical hearts, we can help heal our spiritual hearts through the exercise of daily acts of compassion and love towards those around us and through a better “diet” of our thoughts – by “consuming” thoughts of joy, blessing and gratitude.
We only have on physical heart and we only have one spiritual heart. Let’s take care of them and live the greatness God made us to live!
Have a great weekend.
Written by Matt Palmer, Partner & Co-Founder