Lessons From A Lop-Sided Heart

 Lessons From A Lop-Sided Heart                                                              September 18, 2014


Have you gazed up into the sky and discovered a cloud that looks like something other than a cloud? You know the kind I’m talking about – the ones shaped like puppies or hearts or angels. Or maybe you’re not a sky gazer but you’ve seen pictures of such clouds on social media. Perhaps you’ve also seen pictures on social media of food items that bear the likeness of someone or something else. Anytime I’ve viewed these thing on social media I’ve thought, “Oh how cute.” But then I dismiss them.

Why do I bring up these questions you ask? Well today I saw something in the bottom of my coffee cup that made me stop and pause.  (Why didn’t I think to take a picture of it before refilling my cup – rats!)  In the bottom of my cup was the shape of a heart. Okay, and. Well I saw it and thought, “Oh a heart.” “Look again,” I hear in my spirit. Okay, I see a lop-sided heart. “Look closer.” By now it’s losing its shape but that small voice keeps speaking.

I have tried quite diligently to be perfect for God. (I know, I know – no man/woman is perfect.) But still I strive. And striving for perfection is worthy goal – so long as you realize it is not fully attainable this side of Heaven.  But my motive for trying to be perfect for God was what needed to be reviewed after examining my heart – get it, my heart.  Okay, in all seriousness – why was I always down on myself for not doing all that I wanted to do or felt I needed to do to please God? It’s because I keep trying to earn God’s love and repay Him for all He’s done/doing for me.  That is not a worthy goal. That’s a massive waste of time and energy.

There’s so much more I want to say on the subject of works, but that’s not what God is dealing with at the moment.  He wants to deal with the heart.  When it comes to God’s love for me and my love for God, it will always be uneven. Like the lop-sided heart in my coffee cup, an illustration of our hearts – God’ s and mine as one – will always be one-sided. His side will always be exponentially larger. While through Christ I have the ability to love, GOD IS LOVE. While in Christ I can do good, GOD IS GOOD. No matter how much I love (or do), I will never even come close to being His equal.

Psalm 113:5 (NIV) reads, “Who is like the LORD our God, the One who sits enthroned on high.”  In the New Living Translation that same verse reads, “Who can be compared with the LORD our God, who is enthroned on high?”  While it is true that when I accepted Christ as my Savior and Lord His spirit came to live inside of me. As a result I have taken on His characteristics and gained His ability to love and do good. However, this vessel of clay that houses  that Spirit prevents me for being exactly as He is.

So today I shall cease and desist trying to earn God’s love and approval and His favor. I shall simply bask in His love for me and love Him in return as His Spirit in me enables. I accept that I am not saved by my works but saved unto good works AND I recognize and accept the difference. 

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