Teaching Series: Enlarging My Heart

Above everything else, guard your heart. It is where your life comes from. (Proverbs 4:23)

Your heart is the center of your being. Above everything else, of first importance, we must guard our heart. You should be a good guard with your heart. In other words, you should develop a heart of patience and keep your temper under control, just like a good guard would.

This issue of patience is certainly one that we all need to work on. It is so easy to lose our patience. How do you develop a patient heart? God wants you to learn to be patient.

But the fruit the Holy Spirit produces is love, joy and peace. It is being patience, kind and good. It is being faithful and gentle and having control of oneself. There is no law against things of that kind. (Galatians 5:22-23)

What does it mean to have a patient heart?

A Patient Heart is simply trusting in God’s timing.

“You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors” (James 1:3).

I Need A Patient Heart …

1. When I Am Growing In Faith

“So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. For when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything” (James 1:4). “…troubles produce patience. And patience produces character, and character produces hope” (Romans 5:3-4).

My Response: Partner With God’s Timing
“God wants us to grow up … like Christ in everything” (Ephesians 4:15).

2. When I Am Growing With Difficult People

“A fool gives full vent to anger, but a wise person quietly holds it back” (Proverbs 29:11). “I’m challenging you. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst” (Matthew 5:44).

My Response: See People Through God’s Eyes
“Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other” (1 John 4:11).

3. When I Am Growing In Experiencing Loss

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them” (Romans 8:28).

My Response: Weep, Wait and Connect
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.  If you do this, you will experience God’s peace” (Philippians 4:6-7).

4. When I Am Sharing My Faith

“But that is why God had mercy on me, so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him” (1 Timothy 1:16).

My Response: Keep Praying and Keep Sharing
“So don’t get tired of doing what is good. Don’t get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time” (Galatians 6:9).