Have you ever wondered if you had a fatal disease? How would you know? What would you do to help yourself if you recognized you had a serious health problem—especially with your heart?
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the world today. Each year it claims the lives of millions of people. It is called “the silent killer” because it develops slowly and silently over decades in the human body without causing undue pain or concern. Often, a victim’s first warning of the problem is a sudden, fatal heart attack or stroke! However, for those concerned enough about their health to have regular checkups, the symptoms of heart disease are not difficult to spot. They include high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol levels, partially occluded arteries, shortness of breath and even chest pains that sometimes radiate down the arms.
People who develop heart disease also have numerous and obvious risk factors—sedentary and stress-filled lifestyles, high fat diets, being overweight, drinking heavily or smoking. The more symptoms and risk factors we have, the more likely we are to be a victim of heart disease. Yet the good news is that these symptoms and risk factors can be reversed in many cases by changing our behavior—by getting regular exercise, eating less fat and more fiber, not smoking, using alcohol in moderation and learning to manage stress. It is possible to avoid becoming a victim of this fatal disease if we recognize the conditions that cause the problem, and take the appropriate actions.
However, there is a more serious threat to human life and health than heart disease. That threat can be termed spiritual heart disease. It, too, operates quietly, subtly and deceptively in the human mind, affecting our thoughts and influencing our actions. Unrecognized and left untreated, this dangerous condition will not only wreak havoc in and seriously damage our physical life, it can rob us of God’s gift of eternal life! The Bible reveals that spiritual heart disease is of even more concern to our Creator than is physical heart disease.
Could you be a victim of spiritual heart disease and not even know it? Can you recognize the symptoms of spiritual heart disease? Do you know how to prevent this potentially fatal disease from ruining your life? What steps can you take to develop a healthy spiritual heart?
The Divine Physician
Scripture indicates that God is deeply concerned about the spiritual condition of our hearts. Long ago, God told the prophet Samuel that “man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). God chooses whether to work with us, or to reject us, based on what is in our hearts—the thoughts and attitudes that influence our actions. In fact, God makes a deliberate effort to find out what is in our hearts. “The righteous God tests [examines, probes] the hearts and minds [the innermost thoughts]” of human beings He is working with—and rewards us according to what He finds (Psalm 7:9; 11:5–7; Proverbs 21:2; 24:12).
Just as physicians administer a stress test to determine if our heart will function normally under exercise, God allows us to undergo trials to determine if we are building spiritual strength and character that will enable us to be in the Kingdom of God (1 Peter 4:12–17). This is one of the reasons we encounter trials in this life. God wants to see how we will react under pressure—what we are really made of. If we respond to trials in an appropriate manner, God will see that our hearts are spiritually healthy. However, if we show symptoms of spiritual heart disease, we will experience consequences in this life that could prove fatal to our eternal life. But what does God look for? What are the signs of a spiritually healthy heart, and what are the symptoms of spiritual heart disease?
Do You Fear God?
While many Christians today talk of their desire to find out what God’s will is for their lives, the Bible provides the answer to that question. God reminded Moses and the ancient Israelites: “What does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 10:12–13). God spoke similarly to Isaiah: “But on this one will I look: on him who is poor [humble] and of a contrite spirit [repentant heart], and who trembles at My word [who fears to disobey]” (Isaiah 66:2). Jesus emphasized the very same point. He said that the greatest commandment was to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). Jesus also plainly taught: “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). To do so will be our overriding desire, if our heart is spiritually healthy.
However, one symptom of spiritual heart disease is the tendency to look for ways to compromise, or reason around obeying the laws of God. The Apostle Paul describes this typically human approach, and reminds us that “the carnal mind is enmity against [resents] God; for it is not subject to the law of God nor indeed can be” (Romans 8:7). Individuals with symptoms of spiritual heart disease simply do not want to be subject to the laws of God. They will look for any excuse, or follow any idea, that provides an excuse for not following God’s plain instructions. What are your tendencies? Do you really fear God? Do you fear to disobey His commandments, or have you been deceived by arguments that God’s laws are no longer applicable today?
When God began to work with Abram, He instructed him to “walk before Me and be blameless” (Genesis 17:1). God then tested Abram on numerous occasions, even commanding him to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice. When God saw Abram’s willingness to follow the instructions He had given, God intervened, saying: “Do not lay your hand on the lad… for now I know that you fear God” (Genesis 22:12). God had to know if Abraham would be obedient (see Genesis 26:5), in order to make him the “Father of the Faithful.” David was chosen to replace Saul as king over Israel because God found David to be “a man after My own heart, who will do all My will” (Acts 13:22). King Solomon, however, who began his reign with a desire to serve God (1 Kings 3:1–9), later ignored God’s instructions and drifted into idolatry because “his [pagan] wives turned away his heart [to follow other gods]” (11:3). The Bible reveals that Solomon’s “heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David” (v. 4).
Satan tempted Jesus Christ to see if He would remain faithful to God’s laws and instructions (Matthew 4:1–11). Because He remained obedient, and did not compromise, Jesus became the Savior of mankind (Hebrews 4:15). God will examine each of our hearts (1 Corinthians 3:13; 1 Thessalonians 2:4) to see if we really fear Him. God will also help us recognize if we are developing any signs of spiritual heart disease, so that we can overcome these tendencies—if we ask for His help.
What Are Your Priorities?
Our priorities reveal much about the spiritual condition of our heart. Jesus instructed His disciples to “seek first the kingdom of God” (Matthew 6:33). He also stated that we are not fit for the Kingdom of God if we look back longingly or return to worldly ways, or become sidetracked by the cares of this world or become discouraged by trials (Matthew 13:18–22; Luke 9:57–62). These are matters of the heart. If our heart is spiritually healthy, our major priority will be to seek and prepare for the Kingdom of God in every aspect of our life. If we allow other secular or material interests and desires to become more important, we could become a victim of spiritual heart disease.
Our priorities determine what we are and what we will become. When was the last time you took time to honestly examine your priorities? What are your major interests and goals? What consumes the majority of your time? What is the major focus of your life—your job, your romantic interests, making money, having fun, acquiring things, being popular and fitting in with your friends, seeing the latest movie or visiting the latest “cool” place? Or is your major goal to develop the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5), walk in His footsteps, obey God and prepare to serve in the Kingdom of God? One set of priorities indicates a spiritually healthy heart; the other is a symptom of spiritual heart disease. Our priorities can tell us a lot about the condition of our heart—if we care to look!
A Penny For Your Thoughts!
There is an old saying that we are—or will become—what we think about. It is based on a biblical verse that states, “for as he thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7). If our thoughts are focused on ourselves, our appearance, on material things, on physical pleasures instead of the things of God, our heart is not developing in a spiritually healthy manner that God desires and requires. We are exhibiting the symptoms of spiritual heart disease that will bring unpleasant consequences now, and will prove fatal in the long run. We need to monitor our thoughts because, “as in water face reflects face, so a man’s heart reveals the man” (Proverbs 27:19). Our thoughts reveal a lot about our character.
The Bible states that Satan is the god of this world, and is capable of influencing the thoughts of human beings (2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:2). God also warns us in His word: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways” (Isaiah 55:8). This is why we must learn to evaluate where our thoughts are coming from, and discipline ourselves as to what we should and should not think about (1 Corinthians 9:24–27). We need to recognize and resist thoughts and ideas that come from Satan (James 4:7–8), and instead focus our thoughts on godly things (Philippians 4:8). If we become carried away with thoughts of vanity, jealousy, lust, selfishness, anger, hatred and offbeat religious ideas, we are showing signs of a spiritually diseased heart. When did you last examine what kind of thoughts dominate your mind? Are your thoughts the thoughts of one striving to be a person “after God’s own heart?”
What Do You Talk About?
Jesus said that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34). We talk about things that are important to us. The topics of our daily conversations provide a mirror into what is on our mind and in our heart. When you listen to your own conversations, what do you hear yourself talking about? Do you talk about foolish, frivolous things? Do you share gossip? Do you spend hours talking about sports, or social, political or romantic issues? Do you find yourself flattering people or telling lies? The Bible links these subjects with spiritual heart disease. If you spend time conversing with like-minded individuals about the plan and purpose of God, the laws of God and preparing for the coming kingdom of God, you are developing a spiritually healthy heart. David wrote that “the mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, and his tongue talks of justice. The law of his God is in his heart” (Psalm 37:30–31).
The Bible tells us that “the lips of the righteous [who follow God’s laws] know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked [know or talk about] what is perverse” (Proverbs 10:32). We are also reminded that “he who guards his mouth preserves his life, but he who opens wide his lips [and talks about whatever comes to mind without thought of the consequences] shall have destruction” (Proverbs 13:3), and that “wisdom rests in the heart of him who has understanding, but what is in the heart of fools is made known” (Proverbs 14:33). This is why the Bible advises: “The heart of the wise teaches his mouth and adds learning to his lips” (Proverbs 16:23). What we talk about is a clue to the condition of our heart. Our conversation—our verbal diet—is an indicator of spiritual heart disease or a spiritually healthy heart—if we listen!
What Do You Look At?
David wrote in the Psalms: “I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set nothing wicked [worthless] before my eyes… a perverse heart shall depart from me; I will not know wickedness” (Psalm 101:2–4). Scripture also advises us to “give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart… let your eyes look straight ahead… ponder the path of your feet… Do not turn to the right or the left; remove your foot from evil” (Proverbs 4:20–27). This is extremely important advice in our visually oriented world—a world saturated with sex, violence, and visual enticements to every sort of perversion, excess and evil imaginable. What we look at, and what we let our eyes dwell upon, are indicators of the condition of our heart. This, too, can reveal symptoms of spiritual heart disease, or signs of a spiritually healthy heart.
What do you let your eyes dwell upon when you see a display rack full of magazines? What do you watch on television? What do you read? Is your visual appetite driven by lust, the desire to acquire, the thrill of violence or the titillation of sex? Does your visual diet generate or feed evil thoughts? If so, then your visual diet will contribute to spiritual heart disease. Those who desire to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, and be in the kingdom of God, will not let their eyes dwell on such things—they will focus their eyes in a different direction!
Showing Love
The Bible reveals that “God is love” and that as Christians we are to learn to “love one another” (1 John 4:7–11). Godly love is patient, kind, self-controlled, does not envy, does not vainly promote or continually talk about one’s own ideas or opinions, is not rude, is not easily provoked to anger, is not resentful, does not strive to get even, does not gossip, but is forgiving, understanding and does not quit, give up or fail (1 Corinthians 13). Godly love comes from a spiritually healthy heart. It is the visible fruit of a person who is using and being led by God’s Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22–26). Symptoms of spiritual heart disease include a lack of godly love, characterized by selfishness and selfish ambition, anger, contention, jealousy, immoral thoughts and actions and a focus on physical gratification (Galatians 5:19–21). An inability to recognize and overcome these negative and ungodly qualities will rob us of our reward, and prove to be spiritually fatal. We need to strive to exercise the fruits of God’s Spirit, and show godly love in every situation we encounter—because that is a sign of a spiritually healthy heart.
When we are able to recognize our human tendencies, and understand how Satan attempts to influence, deceive and pervert the human heart and mind, we can better realize why the Bible emphasizes the need to repent and change and become more like God wants us to be (Mark 1:14–15; Acts 2:37–40). The Apostle Paul equates the process of repentance and change and becoming a Christian with circumcision of the heart (Romans 2:29)—the cutting away of the rebellious attitudes that emanate from the carnal (Satan-influenced) human heart. God emphasized this same necessity to the ancient Israelites through Moses (Deuteronomy 10:16), and to the nation of Judah through Jeremiah (Jeremiah 4:4). Sadly, in each of these cases, spiritual heart disease proved fatal to the individuals and nations involved. Can we learn from these tragic examples?
Those who are called, and who overcome the symptoms of spiritual heart disease and become Christians “after God’s own heart,” can be in the Kingdom of God and reign with Jesus Christ on this earth. However, the time to grow and overcome is limited (Isaiah 55:6–7). For the world at large, the time is coming when Jesus Christ will return, as the Great Physician, to perform radical spiritual surgery on the rebellious hearts of mankind. Satan will be dethroned, and the peoples of this world will learn some very painful lessons, after which God will give human beings a “new heart” and take away their “stony heart” so all mankind will be able to understand the wisdom of the laws of God and the happiness that comes from obedience and doing things God’s way (Jeremiah 24:7; 31:33–34; Ezekiel 11:19–20; 36:26–27). We can have a dramatic part to play in the plan of God if we learn important lessons now—and we do not let ourselves become victims of spiritual heart disease!