Being the Heart of the Home

Attention Ladies:



image derived from knitted heart by mararie via flickr

You are the heart of your home!

 

We all know that keeping our physical hearts healthy is important.
 

But what do we do to keep the heart of the home healthy?

The Mayo Clinic provides five great steps to keeping up our cardiac health. Let's use the same advice to keep our spiritual hearts, and thus us, as the heart of our homes, healthy.

 

1. Don't smoke or use tobacco.

So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you.

Colossians 3:5

First things first: do away with the things that are hurting you. Flee from the things that drag you down. Just as tobacco clogs our lungs and constricts our blood flow, sin brings us down.

This is not a one-time step. Ever hear a former smoker say they still want a cigarette occasionally? Or a recovering addict say that they'll never be "cured?"

We need to die to flesh daily, making our commitment fresh everyday.

 

2. Exercise for 30 minutes on most days of the week.

So that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Hebrews 6:12

When we workout, our hearts get much needed exercise. Are you exercising daily?

Do you find yourself being stagnate, or are you looking for ways to grow, to improve? It's tempting to curl up on our hypothetical couches and become spiritual couch potatoes. It's tempting to become comfortable and lazy with where we are. But we need exercise! We need to challenge ourselves, to try new things, to constantly seek to grow and become more like our Lord.

Are you getting enough exercise?

 

3. Eat a heart-healthy diet.

Man does not live by bread alone...

Deuteronomy 8:3

Whole-grains, lean protein, fruits & vegetables, cut the fat: the heart diet.

Dear one, consume the things that are good for you. Listen to songs that uplift you. Pour over Scripture. Find friends who speak truth to you.

And cut your fat. You know what I'm talking about here... the fluff that you use to make yourself feel good, or those delicious time-wasters that end up sucking up hours of your time.

Please know that I'm not saying that we should never do things that make us feel good, or help us relax (refer back to point 2!). But as mature, Godly women, we know when there's something shrouding us from our true identity in Christ-- and we need to address it.

 

4. Maintain a healthy weight.

Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you.

Psalm 55:22

When we gain weight, our hearts have to work harder to pump. The added weight makes it difficult for your heart to send oxygen-rich blood to your lungs, causing shortness of breath.

When we allow the weight of anxiety, the drive to be perfect, fear, stress, self-doubt, self-pity, and shame to accumulate around our home and in our life, we make it hard for us, as the heart, to operate. Chris's grandfather recently passed away after being admitted to the hospital during an episode during which his heart was functioning as 10% capacity.

Just as our physical hearts begin to suffer and weaken under added weight, so too, do we, the heart of the home suffer and weaken under burdens.

And just as our heart can suffer long-term damage the longer we carry extra pounds, the same is true for us.

The good news? The Lord tells us we can put our burdens, our extra weight, on Him. He does not tire or weaken.

Put your weight on Him; see how easier it becomes to breathe.

 

5. Get regular health screenings.

Search me, O God, and know my heart.

Psalm 139:23

Are you keeping your appointments with the Great Physician? Are you allowing your Heavenly Father to examine your heart, and to make suggestions on what you might need to change? Has He prescribed a course of treatment for you? Are you following it?

When we visit our doctor, he or she listens to your heart with a stethoscope. What are they hoping to hear? A strong, steady heartbeat.

God listens to your heart, too. He longs to hear a strong, steady heart beating for Him.

Pray for the Lord to help you understand the condition of your heart. Ask Him to care for your heart.

 

Shared with My Daily Walk in His Grace for Winsome Wednesdays, Raising Homemakers, Raising Arrows, AWise Woman Builds Her Home, Deep Roots at Home, Mercy Ink, Abiding Woman, Growing Home, Live Called, Christian Mommy Blogger, and Walking Redeemed