Nothing gets our attention like a heart problem.

The Heart is the center of who you are. The heart is the center of your physical, emotional, spiritual, & intellectual.

Proverbs 4:23 says that EVERYTHING flows out of the heart.

Heart problems are crippling in every way. Because everything flows out of our heart we should make sure we know what is in our heart.
The Bible tells us what Love is. It is patient, it is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast… (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)
There are times we are not patient, kind, or other. We often attribute problems to other people or our personality ticks. God’s Word tells us to look within our hearts instead of placing the blame on others or situations.
We do not have a patience problem… We have a LOVE problem. Our anger issue is a HEART problem.
If we will own our problem, we can turn to God and receive a brand new heart.

First Love 3 – Heart Problems from Redemption Church on Vimeo.

First Love 3 – Heart Problems

Sermon notes by Chris Fluitt

Redemption Church Plano Tx

**Vid bumper
Welcome to Redemption Church.
First Love
We are in the 3^rd week of our First Love series. Last week we looked at Luke 10 and discussed the Lawyer, the Loophole, & Love. Love has no Loopholes. We should love God and love our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus is our Neighbor – He is the Good Samaritan. He loves us without loopholes.
As I start I want to ask a question. No need to answer out loud, but really come up with an answer in your heart.
Do I have trouble Loving?
Today I was to talk about… Heart problems
The heart is essential to the human body.

Some parts of the body you could damage or lose and the body would still function.
- Severed spine
- Lose a limb
- You could even remove parts of your brain and still be alive
- BUT YOU DON’T FUNCTION WITHOUT A HEART

The Heart does so much in your Body that we take for granted.

Pumps Life through your Body.
It works in tandem with your kidneys to clean your blood from toxins. It pumps your blood through that filter.
The heart carries Oxygen throughout the body

The Bible tells us that the Heart is important.
Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.(NIV)
Luke 6:45 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.(NIV)
The Heart is the center of who you are in a physical sense and also a spiritual, emotional, and intellectual sense.
Everything comes from the center of who you are… your heart.
What is in your heart?
Sometimes we are surprised by what is in our heart..
We can’t really see our heart. We have to get special equipment to scan the physical chambers of your heart. Harder still to look into someone heart and know what they are thinking or how they feel.
We are often fooled by others. Surprised by what comes out of their heart.
But if we are honest aren’t we just a surprised by our own hearts?
God is never fooled
1 Samuel 16:7 The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

Matthew 15:19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.(NIV)
Often we seek to change our actions… But we fail because we have not changed our heart.
Everything flows out of the heart… You really want to change your life – Change your heart.

We have been talking about keeping love first. Now there are some strategies we can learn to help us. We can better understand each other’s love language. We can guard our motivations. We can read some self help suggestions and work to improve our love…
BUT DO NOT THINK FOR A MOMENT that we can just change some of our actions and that will fix everything. We need to change our heart!
Let’s take a look at the Bible’s definition of Love

1 Corinthians 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.(NIV)
1 Corinthians 13:5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.(NIV)
1 Corinthians 13:6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.(NIV)
1 Corinthians 13:7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.(NIV)
1 Corinthians 13:8 Love never fails.
How do we stack up to that definition? Let’s read it again with our names in place of love…
Does that seem true?
Do I have trouble Loving?
We asked if you have trouble giving early in this message. Far too often we don’t really admit our problems in this area.
Sure I am not perfect in the area of Love… but at least I’m not…
…like so and so… they are really bad
… at least I have never killed someone… or some other act deemed more terrible
These are excuses… attempts to justify ourselves… INSTEAD OF CHANGING OUR HEARTS.
Let’s be direct…
It’s not a ______ problem… It’s a Heart problem.
Patience, kindness, envy, boasting & prideful, rude, self-centered, anger, score keeper, delighting in evil/the bad that happens to others, protection, trust, hope, perseverance, failure
It is all too common for us to hear a sermon that deals with one of our many issues and for us to think… You know so and so should have heard that sermon. I am not preaching to so & so today… I am preaching to Chris Fluitt and to you!
We need to own our Love problem. We need to do something about our heart problem.

If your doctor walks in with scans of your heart and says that there is a problem with your heart, you would not be offended with the doctor. “how dare you say I have a weak left ventricular wall! I am never coming back to this hospital!” No! You would say “Doctor what can we do about this heart problem.”
This is not a time to get defensive. This is not a time to come down to the altar and just go through the motions. THIS IS THE TIME TO OWN YOUR PROBLEM AND LET JESUS TREAT YOUR CONDITION.
We have a heart problem
I ought to be a better spouse..
I ought to be a better parent..
I ought to be a better friend..
I ought to be a better Christian..

We all have a heart problem… but Jesus has the perfect heart. Love always comes out of His heart… Let’s read 1 Corinthians 13 again and put Jesus’ name in the scripture.
1 Corinthians 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.(NIV)
1 Corinthians 13:5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.(NIV)
1 Corinthians 13:6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.(NIV)
1 Corinthians 13:7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.(NIV)
1 Corinthians 13:8 Love never fails.

Ask Jesus to help you with your heart problem.

Psalm 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.(NIV)
Psalm 139:24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.(NIV)

Psalm 51:10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.(NIV)

Not only can he help your heart… He can give you a new heart…