Idols of our Heart

The desires of our heart greatly affect our thoughts and actions, so if the desires of our heart aren’t appropriate, neither will anything else be. Sometimes, we can have appropriate desires but still have wrong actions about how we deal with those desires not being met. When our desires are not in the proper order, putting God first, those desires can turn into idols for us, even without the intention of doing so. When we feel like our spouse is letting us down by not pitching in and helping around the house, even though our desires for him to be helpful are appropriate, blowing up at him is not. But how often is our initial response anger and frustration? Luckily for us, God knows exactly what is in our hearts. But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7. He knows when we desire good things, but let our sinful behaviors prevail.

Our behavior can become sinful when situations don’t go our way. But if we are honest with ourselves, there are many times when things don’t go our way. That’s when the sin of pride comes creeping in and we want everything to revolve around us and be for us. Even if that’s how you feel on the inside, you can ask God to help control your attitude and your actions. It is all about how we respond to those situations that can help our marriages and other relationships.

Trust in the Lord and do good.

 Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.

Take delight in the Lord,

 and he will give you your heart’s desires. Psalm 37: 3-4.

If you desire to be a more loving spouse, to look more like Jesus, all you have to do is ask, and He will help you. And if you want to see how Jesus handled situations where things did not go as he hoped, read Mark 14:32-41. This is where Jesus asks his disciples to stay awake and pray with him, he’s about to be handed over for his crucifixion and multiple times he returns to them and finds them asleep. This was an extremely stressful situation for Jesus and he could have easily blown up at his disciples. Instead, he is honest with them and tells them about his disappointment, but he also forgave them. We can always look to Jesus for how to handle situations. After all, he came down to earth so that He could personally know the struggles we face, and he faced them perfectly. So read your Bible and pray to be more like Jesus.