No one wants the doctor to tell them they have an enlarged heart. That means medical trouble, and none of us want that. In this study, I am not concerned with your physical heart, but rather our spiritual heart. The size of our spiritual heart matters to God. The bigger it is, the better.

The New College Edition of The American Heritage Dictionary defines the heart both physically and emotionally. The emotional heart is defined as, “The vital center of one’s being, emotion, and sensibilities.” It is, “Inner strength or character.”

Inner strength and character are the elements of a true Christian. It is what lives inside us that makes us who we really are spiritually. Purity of heart will assure us of a home in heaven, Matthew 5:8. That seems simple enough on the surface, but we all know it is not easy.

The heart is what is important to God. When He chose a new king of Israel, He sent the prophet Samuel to anoint him. Samuel thought Eliab, the oldest son of Jesse, was the one God had chosen. God had other ideas. He said, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (First Samuel 16:7 NKJV).

Why is the heart so important to God? For the Christian, it is where Christ dwells (Ephesians 3:17). It is where we make melody when we sing (Ephesians 5:19). It is also where the gentle and quiet spirit lives in the Christian woman. This kind of spirit is precious to our heavenly Father (First Peter 3:4).

So, how do we know when we have a spiritual heart problem? We know when we don’t love one another the way we should. As Christians, we should love one another with a pure heart (First Peter 1:22). We speak and act from our hearts. Solomon said, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it springs the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23). Jesus confirmed this when he told the scribes and Pharisees, “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man” (Matthew 15:18). On another occasion, Jesus asked these same rulers how they could ever speak good things because they were so evil. He said, “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34).

Now that we have identified the problem, what should we do? A good example for us is King David. Remember that God looked at his heart before He made David the king. David disappointed God on more than one occasion, but he knew what he needed to do to get back in favor with his Heavenly Father. This is what he said when the prophet, Nathan, came to him after his sin with Bathsheba. “For I acknowledge my transgressions. And my sin is always before me” (Psalm 51:3). In order to treat our heart problem, we have to acknowledge that we have sinned.

Next, we need to remove sin from our hearts and replace it with a pure heart. Ezekiel, speaking to the people of God, gave them hope for their impure hearts. They had worshiped idols and committed many other sins. God, through Ezekiel, said, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them” (Ezekiel 36:26-27). God is always willing to forgive and cleanse us, but only if and when we acknowledge our sins and turn to Him.

Once we have determined that our hearts are not right, we should be like the men on Pentecost that were “cut to the heart” and begged to know what to do to get forgiveness for their sins. Peter told them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). They acknowledged their sins, and they were baptized for the remission of their sins (verse 41).

For those who are already Christians, we have these words, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (First John 1:9).

We need to take a little “spiritual medicine” for our heart problems. James says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (James 4:8). Paul says, “…the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). Paul continues with a list of things for us to think on: things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, and good report (Philippians 4:8). James tells us to draw ourselves to God. Don’t try to live a double life. Then Paul tells us the kinds of things we should have in our spiritual heart.

When Paul wrote to the church at Colosse, he was concerned about their heart problems. He told them to remove some things from their lives: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language, and lying (Colossians 3:8-9). Just removing these was not enough. Those things had to be replaced in the heart to solve their problems. He said, “…put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do” (Colossians 3:12-13).

Those are a lot of “pills” to swallow, but he was not finished. He then told them to let the peace of God rule their hearts, to be a thankful people, and let the words of Jesus live inside their hearts (Colossians 3:15-16).

How big is your heart? Is it big enough to love? Is it big enough to be thankful? Is it big enough to forgive?  In judgment, we all want to hear from our Heavenly Father that we lived with a big heart.

Sandra Oliver