The United Heart

The heart is a vital part of the human body. A body without an active heart is dead! Without it, human life is reduced to vanity; because the heart is the source of issues of life. No heart; no issues of life. Issues of life are general concerns of life. This means that concerns of life depends on conditions of human hearts. Thus whether or not mankind enjoys the goodies of life is solely dependent of the heart of mankind. A united heart for instance produces love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law! It goes without saying that keeping the heart with all diligence is the key to enjoying a prosperous life. King Solomon of immeasurable riches and wisdom aptly advised, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” – Proverbs 4:23(NIV).

Heart guidance is life guidance; and good life is a product of a guided heart. The heart is a small part of the human body yet it determines its actions and inactions. Although the tongue controls human life, without the heart the tongue is voiceless. “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth (tongue) speaks.” A guided heart thus guarantees abundant life because it is able to unite all issues of life towards God. No wonder King David, the greatest king in history, in Psalm 86:11(KJV) prayed, “Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name”. No wonder he is credited with leading his subjects “according to the integrity of his heart (character) and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands”.

A person with a divided heart may be right in the head (knowledge) and hands (skills) but wrong in the heart (character). It has been observed that there are many people in society who are very competent but do not have character; and there are many people in the church with character but are not competent. For General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, a retired United States Army General, “To lead in the 21st century…you will be required to have both character and competence”. He however confesses that, “Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without strategy”. This means that character is superior to competence (strategy). Stephen Covey laments that “90% of leadership failures are character failures”. Ken Blanchard’s useful guide is very instructive, “The journey of a leader starts with the heart, with motivation and intent. Then it must travel through the head, which is the leader’s belief system (values), to their habits (attributes) and finally to their skills (what they do). When your heart, head habits and skills are aligned, extraordinary levels of loyalty, trust and productivity will result. When these areas are out of alignment, frustration, mistrust and diminished long-term productivity will result”.

A united heart potently aligns a person’s heart with that person’s head and hands. This great feat takes a conscious effort. Charisma is truly a gift but one has to pay a price for character. Character building is costly; it is usually a long painful process. For instance, it calls for crucifying our past, pride, priorities, paradigms, pleasures, and our very persons. Therefore, left to oneself, character building will be unachievable. It takes something higher than self to build character. One needs Jesus Christ to achieve this great feat. Jesus freely gives the Holy Spirit to anyone who receives him as that person’s only Lord and Saviour. It is only through the help of the Holy Spirit that character building becomes a reality. Why don’t you invite Jesus into your life right now if you have not received him? On the other hand, if you have received Jesus but you are still struggling with character issues, it may mean that you have not totally yielded to the Holy Spirit. Repent now!

Richard Obeng Mensah, co-author of 37 Benefits of Reading.

borncapy@yahoo.com/www.richard-obeng-mensah.blogspot.com