A Heart Enlarged

So this is what I've been thinking about:  Enlarging our Hearts.


I think our hearts here in the States need a bit of a workout to get back into shape.  Our heart muscles are often a bit shriveled and anemic.


1 Corinthians 13 said that we can have all the outward manifestations of powerful spiritual living, but without love, all the power is sapped and the eternal significance is wiped out.  Love is one of those "nice" ideas that so much of the church seems to discount.  It was Paul who spent so much time waking up the church to the need for love.  When our hearts are engaged, we are called to walk out of our narcissistic fog and act!  Lord, enlarge our hearts!

When I first started praying for love for specific people in my life, I was shocked at how God answered my prayer in an almost immediate way.  The Lord opened my eyes to a truth I'd never seen before:  Love flows through the Holy Spirit to empower my relationships.  I don't have to conjure it up on my own.  I realized my heart had been anemic and self-focused.  I needed an enlarged heart.

What would an enlarged heart look like for each of us?  Here's an example:  Just think about praying for and then receiving an expanded love for the children of your neighborhood.  All of a sudden, during your prayer time as you lift them up to the Lord, you are strategizing how you can fill gaps in their emotional and spiritual love tank and then seeking out ways to encourage them.  Next year with an even more enlarged heart, (For me this enlarged heart builds over time with focus and prayer) you hold a neighborhood backyard Bible study and get to see their hearts given to Jesus.  


Imagine what this would do with your relationship for the woman next door, with the person you work with, with your mother-in-law or even with your husband!  "God fill me with Your love for (blank)."  You seek out and then receive that love and with an expanded heart, suddenly you are filled with God's compassion for that person, his way of seeing them.  No longer are you self-focused when encountering them and evangelism (good-news bringing) comes easy.  With your heart clicked in, you are empowered to love with a servant-like love.


Love, not duty, is the source of a our evangelical strength.  It is the umpfh behind our desire to share Christ as well as the courage to meet the needs that are festering like open sores in the world around us.  

Imagine what would happen if the powerful protective love that arises in us like a Mama Bear for our own kids were brought out as a force to confront the enslaving of other children in India's brothels.  Imagine if the nurturing desire that we already have to see our children brought up with healthy hearts and strong minds were the same desire that arises in us for other children in the Sudan.  A Mother's love, when it is empowered and enlarged, is powerful.

Often, I find myself swallowed in narcissism or a type of fuzzy mommy world where I only care about the next meal for my own kids and collalpsing in front of the tv at the end of the day.  There's a whole lot of living and powerful prayer during the meantime that is profoundly missing.  Love is what is missing.


Dear Friends, we'll finish our conversation later...and please, do converse.  I'd love to hear what you have to say!  Unfortunately, right now it is 6am and Xavier is trying to hit the back of the computer with a fork.  Daylight savings is amazing for adults but for the kids with internal alarm clocks, not quite as easy. Hmmm...breakfast and a full day ahead...I'll pray for you if you pray for me!