Help for Our Hearts

Scripture:

Matthew 22:37

Listen

The Bee Gees sang, “How can you mend a broken heart?” Elvis lived down at the end of Lonely Street at Heartbreak Hotel. Bruce Springsteen said that “everybody’s got a hungry heart.” Tom Petty was tired of people dragging his heart around. And Selena Gomez sang that the heart wants what it wants.

But here’s the problem with our hearts. They can lead us in the wrong direction. In fact, the Bible tells us in Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it?” (NKJV). The Message puts the same verse this way: “The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful, a puzzle that no one can figure out.”

Jesus, showing the potential darkness of our own hearts, said, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Matthew 15:19 NKJV).

Our hearts are dark. Our hearts are evil. And our hearts can mislead us. That’s why we need to let our minds step in and help us.

Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37 NKJV). The Hebrew word for soul would be closer to our use of the word heart. It speaks of something deep inside a person.

Our love for God needs to be emotive and intelligent. One doesn’t cancel out the other. We need to love the Lord with all of our hearts. We need to love God with our emotions and our intellect. And we need to love God with our strength. We need to love Him with our time and resources, with everything that we have.

As Christians, the objective is not to focus on our hearts. It is to focus our hearts on God.

Share this today:

Topics

Did you pray with Pastor Greg?

To help you get started, we would love to send you a free Bible and other resources to help you grow in your faith.

Get Resources

In thanks for your gift . . .

The Jesus Movement began during a chaotic moment in American history, when thousands of young people searching for truth encountered the life-changing message of the gospel. In Jesus Revolution, Greg Laurie shares the compelling story behind this spiritual awakening—including his own transformation as a teenager coming to faith in Christ.

This book takes readers behind the scenes of a movement that changed lives through the power of God’s Word and the hope of Jesus. It’s a timely reminder that God still works through ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things.

When you give to Harvest Ministries this month, we’ll send you Jesus Revolution as our thank-you. And if your gift is $50 or more, we’ll also send you the Jesus Revolution movie on DVD—an inspiring way to enjoy and share this powerful story of revival.

Support today!