It seems as if everywhere we go these days, we are confronted with heart health issues. Whether it’s grabbing a drink out of the vending machine with a sign on the plexiglass now that states “Balance what you eat, drink, and do”, ordering off of the menu at the drive thru that has the caloric value for every item, or if it’s scrolling social media to see all the ads of how to get healthy with the latest trends. As we have entered this era where heart health is on the forefront of most everyone’s agenda, we have all become more cognizant of how we treat and care for our hearts.
We have been taught to feed it appropriately so that what we ingest will strengthen it and sustain it with the nourishments that it needs to function at its highest potential. We have also been taught to exercise, so that it will continue to operate or give us good output for many more days, months, and years yet to come. And while our physical hearts are very important to the vitality of our lives, I can’t help but to wonder how many of our hearts are actually healthy??
In nursing school and after becoming a nurse, I spent many years studying the heart. How it functioned. How it fed the body as the blood pumped from the heart to every organ, vessel, and cell. And to be quite honest, I was never a great cardiac nurse. ?♀️ It just wasn’t my niche.
I have always watched people. I watch what they do. I listen to what they say. And then I see if their actions actually match their words. It has always been interesting to me why, how, and when people say, do, and care about certain things in this life. As I continued to observe this trend, I found one thing to be true. Everything that anyone has said, done, or cared about has been a direct reflection of their heart. And although I was never really great at mastering all the findings of the physical heart, I had been studying the emotional heart for the majority of my entire life. And every word, action, and care all stems directly from the heart.
We always hear people describe other people as good-hearted or evil with ill intent. They describe the good-hearted ones with statements like, “He’d give you the shirt off of his back!” And then contrary to that, we hear warnings about the evil and ill intended with cautions like, “Yeah, you better be careful around that one!” ?
Characteristics of a good hearted person are politeness, kind to everyone, treats others equal, calms confusion, honest (even when it hurts them the most), and has others best interest at heart- not just their own. Evil or ill intent people cause confusion, are dishonest, loyal to only themselves, and are spiteful with their actions.
So what predisposes us to the hearts that we have? What causes us to say the things we say? What causes us to do the things we do? What causes us to care about the things we care about – or not care about – as far as that matter goes? What is it that makes our emotional hearts be the way that are??
From the answers that I have been given along the way, this is an age old question, that doesn’t specifically have a definitive answer. But here is what we do know-
We all know that God created us all. He created us in His image. So why in the world don’t we all have His heart?? Well, first off we aren’t God. And second of all, we are all SO human that it hurts…. wait a minute- “hurts” uh huh! I think we may have shed a little light on what affects our emotional hearts and how or why people do the things that they do.
Whether it was a hurt from childhood, hurt from a past relationship, hurt from betrayal, hurt from insecurities, hurt, hurt, hurt- the list goes on and on.
And even though hurt plays a huge role in how our hearts function, I can’t help but to find it ironic that I have watched people come from a childhood full of so much hurt & pain and they become some of the most compassionate, loving, softest, good-hearted people that I know. Then, I have witnessed those people who had the picture perfect childhood and life- and they are full of deceit, spite, and ill will.
All of this studying leads me to believe that even though the physical and emotional heart are on the total opposite ends of the spectrum when we talk about each of their characteristics, maybe- just maybe the way we care for them isn’t so bipolar opposite. If what we put into our physical bodies affects the output of our physical hearts, wouldn’t what we put into our emotional/ spiritual hearts affects what comes out of those as well??
Think about it, is your heart really healthy? Is what you’re feeding your heart producing good output? Are you exercising it and keeping it healthy? Or is it stagnant?
If you’re feeding your heart with good thoughts, scriptures, and mainly a large dose of Jesus, you’re probably getting out some good results. Your outcomes probably consist of building others up. Be a constant reminder of God’s love and the real reason we are all here. To save souls and to let His light shine through us.
If you’re feeding it bad thoughts, spite, and greed- then your results are probably not as fruitful. You are the ones people are warning others about.
Do you wish well for others and not just yourself? Or do you thrive from watching others fail? Do you try to cause calm or chaos? Are your words soothing or do they sting most of the time? Do you care about people or do you care more about things?
Examine your heart, really examine it! Make sure your motives are of good will and good intent. The Bible tells us to guard our hearts, for everything we do flows from it. So if our hearts aren’t healthy, neither is anything else that follows it.
Are we putting good in, so that good comes out?
Is your heart really healthy?❤️