What to do when our hearts are cool- 6 Ways to Warm Your Heart

Our hands and feet get cold when we’re exposed to extreme temperatures like many are experiencing lately in winter storms across our nation. Our hearts and souls can get cold, too! Sometimes it’s caused not by exposure to extreme temperatures, but to extreme emotions. We get emotional fatigue after a crisis, and we just shut down. This is normal and necessary so we can recuperate. Sometimes we can’t sort out why we feel disconnected and blah. Our bodies, emotions, and spirits are intricately interconnected. When one is exhausted, it affects the others. Sometimes, just physical sleep and rest revive lagging spirits. But sometimes we need a spiritual tune-up to feel connected and sensitive to God.

1.  Check for any thoughts or behaviors that are against God’s will. If we feel uninterested in reading our Bible or attending church feels dull, we need to do some introspection. Is there something in my life that is hindering God’s Spirit’s work? A grudge, anger, unforgiveness, impure thoughts, selfishness, pride, lack of self-control? In order to move forward, we must be willing to deal with wrong attitudes or actions. Repent by naming the wrongdoing and asking for help to right the wrong. Is there something I know I should do, but keep putting off? Some things God asks us to do are hard. We’d rather be comfortable/lazy. But happiness and a life worth living are in doing all that God asks of us- with his help.
“Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” Psalm 139:23-24

2.  Meditate on his mercy. All of us slip into a pity party for ourselves sometimes. However this is self-defeating. It does nothing to bring us to a better place. What does help us get to a better place is thanking God for his mercies. Acknowledging the kindness of the Lord and thanking him goes a long way in lifting our spirits. Entitlement is the opposite of gratitude. We actually don’t deserve all the blessings we receive on a daily basis. We could have been born in a part of the world that doesn’t enjoy God’s mercies of food, clean water, safety, health care, education, beauty of Nature, etc. We could have bodies or brains that prevent us from interacting with others. Instead, we have benefits on top of benefits. Recognizing the big and little things as undeserved gifts from our loving heavenly Father puts us in a positive frame of mind. Sometimes it helps to write down in a journal all the good things that happened in your day, remembering that all good comes from God.

“Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes. . . ” James 1:17

3.  Serve others. It truly is more happy-making to give than to receive! Helping someone else gets the focus off ourselves and onto the needs of others. It gives us satisfaction, joy, and a feeling of purpose. It pulls us out of the doldrums and warms our hearts. It is what we are made for!

“And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” Paul in Acts 20:35. Blessed, Makarios in Greek, has the meaning of happiness because we receive God’s favor.

4.  Read Scripture. God’s Word reveals what ails us! It shows us ourselves, and it shows us our exalted Creator. Earnestly ask God to help you adjust your thinking in view of the Scripture you’re reading. For instance, you may be struggling with dread of something bad happening to you. Then you read a passage in the Bible and God’s Spirit shows you that you can trust God because he is faithful to help his children. The dread loses it’s grip on you.
Sometimes we get calloused and don’t actually hear familiar passages. We just gloss over them because we have lost our awe of them. Dear Husband found a translation that helps us see Scripture in a fresh way. It’s called the The Passion Translation and is available to read free online at YouVersion.com. Some say it isn’t a good translation for serious Bible study. But it has stimulated us to think deeper about well known passages we have heard so often that we have lost the wonder. We also really appreciate the notes on translation and the nuances of the words in the original languages.

“I have hidden your word in my heart,
    that I might not sin against you.”  Psalm 119:11

5.  Sing or listen to music– especially songs with lyrics about God’s attributes or past actions. Music heals. Think of young David playing the harp for mentally tormented King Saul. We don’t know if David sang while he played. If he did, perhaps he sang original songs he composed while tending his flock, some of which we have in the Book of Psalms. Music has the power to soothe and revive.

“Whenever the tormenting spirit from God came on Saul, David would take up his lyre and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.” 1 Samuel 16:23

6.  Ask God to renew you. We can’t generate new life. In the end, we must humbly ask his Spirit to work change in us. He is the Source of the life and light that makes us thrive. We yield ourselves to his work in us by obeying in the everyday and yearning for him to renew us. Often, slowing down allows him to renew us. Stopping the constant activity/scrolling/news/shopping/ all the empty things that numb us, gives him room to work in us. For me, getting outdoors and away from my computer renews me. Yet, I think of excuses not to go outside. ‘It’s too cold. It’s too hot. I can’t physically garden which is what I love to do outside, so I don’t have a ‘reason’ to go outside- as if I have to justify taking a break. What tricks you into not doing the things that give your soul breathing room?

“Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” Psalm 51:10-12

Warm your heart:

•  Take inventory
• Meditate on his mercy
• Serve others
• Read Scripture
• Music
• Ask God to renew