From The Heart

We have an all-news radio station…KYW News Radio.
I have been listening to that station each morning since I was a girl.
Growing up, it was the best way to listen for school numbers on a snowy morning.
You listened in anticipation…waiting for your three digit number to be announced.

All these years later, I am still listening in the morning, as I get dressed.
Give us twenty minutes and we’ll give you the world…is their tag line.
Weather, traffic, word news, local news…at predictable times each hour.
You don’t even have to think about it…traffic on the two’s.

As I was getting dressed this morning, I heard a interesting school report.
The school district of Philadelphia is trying something new.
A “Be Nice” campaign.

Based on a California study, 415 students, 9-11 years old, were instructed to either perform three acts of kindness each week, or visit three pleasant places each week, for four weeks. At the end of four weeks it was concluded that doing good for others, rather than visiting pleasant places, could increase one’s happiness and improve peer relations.

I was troubled by the study and the result.
The more I thought about it, the more backward the results seemed to be.

Performing three acts of kindness improved the happiness of the person doing the act.
What about the recipient of the act of kindness?
Isn’t that the problem with our culture?
Everything is about what I want…what makes me feel better…what causes me to be happy.

The study and its results are the antithesis of the Kingdom of God.
God’s Kingdom turns self centered-ness on its head.
In God’s Kingdom, HE gets the Glory…not us!
We serve others so that we bring Him Glory.

The hardest words to read in Scripture are “from the heart”.
Love others…from the heart.
Serve others…from the heart.
Forgive others …from the heart.

When you are training a little child, inevitably they will hurt someone in words or deeds.
The first thing you teach them is to say they are sorry.
That is a good thing to teach.

However, we have all heard the words I’m sorry spoken through clenched teeth.
The words are correct, but the state of the heart does not match the words that are spoken.

Ruth Bell Graham, wife of Billy Graham, once told a story about her son, Franklin.
He wanted to go and play rather than finish his dinner.
She told him to sit down and eat his dinner.
He refused to sit down.
After much protest, he reluctantly obeyed and sat down.
He folded his arms and said, I might be sitting down on the outside, but I’m not sitting down on the inside!

I never forgot that.
Obedience…but not from the heart!

We know it is right to forgive, but our heart may continue to hurt.
We may struggle with trusting the person who wronged us.
The wonderful thing about forgiveness is that when we are obedient to Christ, His Spirit enables our heart to catch up with our actions over time.

The study I heard about this morning was a secular study.
What’s in it for me?
I feel better when I help someone.
Peer relations improve for me when I do some acts of kindness.

This is the opposite of Kingdom Living.

The feelings of the person doing the act should be secondary.
Any benefits that may come as a result of helping others is simply grace.
That should never be our motive for serving others.

Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” The Pharisees and teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…” He said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. They were filled with awe and said,” We have seen remarkable things today.” (Luke 5:18-26)

Whenever Jesus healed or performed a miracle, the people always praised God.
Jesus never got the glory…God did!
He would have it no other way.
It wasn’t about Him.
Everything…always…was about His Father….and His Father’s Glory.

Jesus laid down His own will in the Garden and went willingly to the cross.
There was not a hint of self promotion.
WE were the joy set before Him as He endured the cross…scorning its shame.

No self-aggrandizing.
In humility, He gave Glory to God, His Father.
How can we do less?

Lord Jesus, help us to be more like You…help us to love others, serve others, and forgive others from the heart.