My Heart Attacked
Stop throwing a fit. You need to share. Put that back. Leave that alone. Don't touch that. It will be ok, you don't have to cry, I'll fix it.
If you've had the joy of being a parent, then you know those lines all to well. I have a son that will soon be three years old and those above mentioned statements come from his mother's and my mouth almost constantly. So as we have been battling the "terrible two's", I have asked my self time and time again, "Why does my son act that way? Why can't he just behave? Why can't I get away with acting like that?" Then it hit me, we spend our entire lives trying to control behaviors, our own and others, and we never really address why we behave the way we do.
I get angry, just like my son. The only difference is that I have learned to control myself instead of throwing a tantrum in the middle of the aisle at the local grocery store. ( Although I did attempt that once when my wife wouldn't let me get the kind of cereal I wanted but the manager asked me please get up off the floor or I would have to leave) Just like my son, I still want things that other people have, I just hold in my jealousy and greed instead of taking something that's not mine or buying something I don't need. And yes, I still feel bad when I mess up, except instead of crying and saying I'm sorry, I just push it aside and act like nothing ever happened.
The whole point is this, we try our best to control the results of our anger, jealousy, greed, and guilt, but we never look at why we even feel those ways in the first place. We never examine our heart.
Jesus said, "Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander." Matthew 15:17-19
Wow! Gives a whole new meaning to the saying, "I love you with all of my heart". Let's face it, our hearts are pretty bad places. Why do we get angry? Because anger lives in our heart. Why do we get jealous, feel greed, and carry around the burden of guilt? Because they too live in our heart.
So what's the solution? I wish there was a great 3 step plan I could share with you but there's not. All I know is the first that thing we have to do is take responsibility for our hearts, not just our behaviors. We have to go to God and ask for help, not to "control" our anger, jealousy, greed, and guilt, but to remove it. Whatever it takes. Then we have to work on it. Join a support group or a small group, pick up a more serious prayer life, and begin dealing with the real reasons you feel the way you do. It's not going to be easy. It's a process and something we have to make a habit. The great news is that all we have to do is trust our hearts to the ultimate physician. God is ready to start working on your heart. Are you ready to let him?
If you've had the joy of being a parent, then you know those lines all to well. I have a son that will soon be three years old and those above mentioned statements come from his mother's and my mouth almost constantly. So as we have been battling the "terrible two's", I have asked my self time and time again, "Why does my son act that way? Why can't he just behave? Why can't I get away with acting like that?" Then it hit me, we spend our entire lives trying to control behaviors, our own and others, and we never really address why we behave the way we do.
I get angry, just like my son. The only difference is that I have learned to control myself instead of throwing a tantrum in the middle of the aisle at the local grocery store. ( Although I did attempt that once when my wife wouldn't let me get the kind of cereal I wanted but the manager asked me please get up off the floor or I would have to leave) Just like my son, I still want things that other people have, I just hold in my jealousy and greed instead of taking something that's not mine or buying something I don't need. And yes, I still feel bad when I mess up, except instead of crying and saying I'm sorry, I just push it aside and act like nothing ever happened.
The whole point is this, we try our best to control the results of our anger, jealousy, greed, and guilt, but we never look at why we even feel those ways in the first place. We never examine our heart.
Jesus said, "Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander." Matthew 15:17-19
Wow! Gives a whole new meaning to the saying, "I love you with all of my heart". Let's face it, our hearts are pretty bad places. Why do we get angry? Because anger lives in our heart. Why do we get jealous, feel greed, and carry around the burden of guilt? Because they too live in our heart.
So what's the solution? I wish there was a great 3 step plan I could share with you but there's not. All I know is the first that thing we have to do is take responsibility for our hearts, not just our behaviors. We have to go to God and ask for help, not to "control" our anger, jealousy, greed, and guilt, but to remove it. Whatever it takes. Then we have to work on it. Join a support group or a small group, pick up a more serious prayer life, and begin dealing with the real reasons you feel the way you do. It's not going to be easy. It's a process and something we have to make a habit. The great news is that all we have to do is trust our hearts to the ultimate physician. God is ready to start working on your heart. Are you ready to let him?
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