Prioritizing Heart Health

Tuesday, April 20th, 2021

Not only does it teach you how to deal with conflict, hurt, anger in a healthy way, but it also builds a deep intimacy and trust with Jesus.
Jenna Winston

TRANSCRIPTION

Hi, I am Jenna Winston with Heartscaping Ministries, I want to talk to you today about heart health. You know, in my sessions there is a tool I use that is so powerful. How often do we, especially those that have discernment and can see other people’s hearts, do we tend to have a lot of compassion and understanding? Like we are supposed to? I am not saying don’t have compassion or understanding. But often we have compassion and understanding for people that might be hurting and are taking advantage of us because we have these hearts of…” Well, they didn’t mean it, they were just broken. That’s not what they meant. They were just coming from a bad place. They were having a rough day.”

 

But what happens is, we become so compassionate that we disqualify what is actually happening in our hearts. We kind of teach our hearts that it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t have a voice. We have learned how to take the hits and keep on going. 

 

One of the things that I do, and I realize this is going to sound really awkward, and I am totally okay with that…I often ask people, “Have you ever held a newborn baby?” When we hold a baby, we don’t cognitively walk through the thought process of, “Wow! This baby can’t change its own diaper.” We just know. We don’t really have to stop and think about that. But the truth is that if that baby’s diaper doesn’t get changed, it is going to get sick, it is going to get sores, and eventually septic, and could lead to death if it doesn’t get fixed.

 

Also, a baby doesn’t get to choose if it has an organic, cage-free, grass-fed mom versus a mom that gives it kool-aid in a bottle. But the truth is, nutrition is vital to healthy growth. In my session, I often have people – it is actually really powerful – I have people take their hand and put it on their heart. I am going to walk you guys through this.

 

Take your hand and put it on your heart. I just want you to take a second. Take a couple of deep breaths and I want you to connect to your heart as if it is a newborn baby, that maybe hasn’t had its diaper changed in a while. That has learned how to hold a lot of pain. And maybe hasn’t gotten all the perfect nutrition. 

 

Once you connect to it, I want you to say, “Heart, I am sorry. I haven’t valued you. I have taught you to come under everybody’s needs. I have told you that your needs didn’t matter. I taught you that sometimes to dampen your own shine and make others comfortable. And I have taught you to just deal with your pain. And I have often caused you to mold and shape and force you to feel what I think is expected for whatever situation. Instead of just letting you feel what you really need to feel. So, Heart, today I give you your voice back. In Jesus’ name, you have permission to be angry. To be hurt.”

 

 God gave us those emotions He just asks us to not sin in them and be vengeful. But it is totally okay to go to God and say, “I am angry, I am hurt, I feel rejected.” In that, in our weakness He is strong. So I want you to say, “Heart, today you get your voice back. You get to come fully alive and deal with whatever is stuffed in there. It is time for a massive diaper change. In Jesus’ name.”

 

One of the reasons I walk people through that is that it is really important to, when we pull that into our cognitive mind, our conscious mind, whatever you want to call it, there is an awareness that happens so that when the next situation we are in, all of a sudden something comes and that ping hits and there is hurt or a pain there, instead of just stuffing it and acting what we’ve been taught is right, but actually dealing with that in a healthy way, therefore all that stuff isn’t building up and becoming the filters and expectations, we are actually aligned with the Lord and letting Him come in and be our hero.

 

Not only does it teach you how to deal with conflict, hurt, anger in a healthy way, but it also builds a deep intimacy and trust with Jesus. And that is more important. So, let me pray with you. Jesus, I just pray that you would stir up, in the hearts of everyone, “Am I taking good care of my own heart? Am I taking care of the hearts around me more than my own? Am I causing my heart to stuff a lot of pain? Lord, I pray that you would stir it up and show everyone what is actually there and the areas that you want to come to bring truth and comfort in. And be able to teach exactly how to deal with those things in a healthy way. In Jesus’ name. Amen.