MY HEART, MY LIFE

Have you ever responded to a tense situation, say for example a vehicle runs into a ditch thereby staining your clothes by using words that are derogatory. If you’ve ever had such an experience, you were probably shocked by our own choice words because you don’t use such words.
I remember an e-mail a friend sent to me a few years back: a pastor brought two jugs of the same kind and placed them before the congregation and tell the contents of jugs. Of course they couldn’t. He tipped the first one out of which water poured and then the other from which vinegar poured. The moral of the story is that our true personality is who we are when we’re under pressure – how we reflect under pressure is a true reflection of the state of our heart.
The state of our heart is a function of percolations – things that have crept in and settled into our hearts without our even noticing it. Proverbs 4:23 (The Message) “Keep vigilant watch over your heart that’s where life starts”. You see, we have to play an active role in keeping watch over what enters our hearts. There are three ways by which information filters into our hearts. They are:
1. The things we hear
2. The things we see
3. The things we read
These three go a long way in determining the state of our hearts and the output thereof. Many times, we unconsciously act out those things that have settled into our hearts.
Whatever we hear and keep on hearing in no time becomes a part of us. That’s why it’s important that we’re careful of the kind of music we listen to because a song always takes us back to its source. What we watch also influences the state of our heart. For instance, people who watch pornography wouldn’t be able to have a healthy relationship with the opposite sex because they can only view them through the pornographic lens in their hearts. The same applies to those the books we read. They influence us in more ways than we could imagine. A person who reads some type of books is very likely to become manipulative – without even realizing it.
“A tree is identified by the kind of fruit it produces. Figs never grow on thorns, or grapes on bramble bushes. A good man produces from a good heart. And an evil man produces evil deeds from his hidden wickedness. Whatever is in the heart overflows into speech.”
– Luke 6:44 & 45,The Living Bible
Friends, it doesn’t matter how long mask the state of our heart, the truth is that one day under some circumstance, it will be revealed. It’s just like in microbiology when you’re culturing microorganisms, it looks like you’re not doing anything. But once you put the freshly transferred organism into the oven at the right temperature and pressure after the recommended amount of time, the organism becomes visible.
So, what’s it going to be?
I encourage you to culture a good heart with God’s help – and the result would be a great life. Romans 12:2 says we should renew our minds with God’s word; Joshua 1:8 encourages us to meditate on God’s word. The truth is that the heart is always meditating on something whether knowingly or unknowingly. No wonder the Psalmist says in Psalm 19:14 (KJV) “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” Phillipians 4:8 (The Living Bible) “…Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and dwell on the fine, good things in others. Think about all you can praise God for and be proud be”.