"Six Signs of Heart Disease"

People are concerned about their heart these days. Exercise and weight control seem to be bombard us on radio and television. But we never hear of people speaking of having a good, spiritual heart. Why? Because the temporary is all people live for. There is more to life than our physical well being. Our lives are about our souls and our souls are tied directly to our hearts.

Why does it seem hard to follow the Lord? Because the heart is not involved. For many they just want to follow some commands and that's all. No heart, no involvement, no commitment. There are six things that show up in our lives to show us that we have a serious spiritual heart disease.

(1) "Let love be without hypocrisy." (Rom. 12:9) We need to love (sacrifice) for others no matter how they have treated us. That's unhypocritical love. To say we forgive someone and not forget, that's a heart problem and love is absent. Did Jesus do that for you?

(2) "Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good." (Rom. 12:9) Evil only leads you away from love and has drastic effects on the heart. When we do not want to depart from evil, there is something wrong with our heart. Good needs to be our desires and what we hold to.

(3) "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love." (Rom. 12:10) What is brotherly love? It is a kindly affection. We are brothers and sisters because God is our Father. We have been born into His family and that should lead us to brotherly love. To "be devoted to one another in brotherly love" means you are not insistent on your way. Is Jesus devoted to us as His brothers? He is not ashamed to call us brethren (Heb. 2:11). Are you ashamed of His brethren or have little to no devotion to them?

(4) "Not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." (Rom. 12:11) Diligence is a persistence that is attentive to a task. The opposite is someone just going through the motions. Fervent is extremely hot. A person who is not persistent to the task of serving the Lord and 'hot' in their own spirit, they are lagging and something is wrong with their heart.

(5) "Rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer." (Rom. 12:12) These are all attitudes of the heart. One that is serving the Lord with all their being knows that no matter what comes in life, there is always hope! They remain constant to their purpose in serving the Lord (persevering) and know that prayer is a vital part of the relationship. How many really are devoted to prayer? We are when we have troubles but what about when things are well? That reveals something about the heart condition.

(6) "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse." (Rom. 12:14) When we are hurt by someone, it is easy to attack with our tongues. How many run to others telling them how bad someone has mistreated them? The mouth reveals the condition of the heart (Matt. 15:18) God instructs us to never return evil for evil, insult for insult but bless instead (I Pet. 3:9).

We go to the doctor for checkups for our physical heart and well being. When was the last time you sat down and went to God looking at your spiritual heart and well being? Here's a good start!