Repentance

Psalm 51:¹⁰ “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.”

God has been teaching us about the importance of the heart and showing us why we have to guard our hearts. Two things are important to have a spiritually healthy heart—eat right and exercise. For food, we are to feed on the undiluted powerful Word of God. And over the past few days, we have been looking at heart exercises necessary for a spiritually healthy heart. The first is The Exercise Of Rest. The second is The Exercise Of Reflection. The third is The Exercise Of Recreation. The fourth is The Exercise Of Repentance.

And the fifth exercise for a spiritually healthy heart is The Exercise of Relationships. If someone insists on locking himself or herself in a house and does not relate with anyone, that person’s heart is going to grow dark. You do not understand Pastor, this person hurt me, that person hurt me. So, I am not going to trust anyone, trust has been broken. And it can never be restored! Such a person is just going to become a monster. Guess what? We were created for connections. We were created for relationships. Someone says he has fifty thousand friends on social media. Really? We must be intentional about building authentic relationships and real communities.

The right relationships will open your life up to a world of learning, encouragement, and accountability. You need relationships. Strong support from our family and friends is essential for keeping our hearts strong in the middle of life’s challenges. To keep your heart healthy, you need to eat healthy and exercise, the same way you do with your physical heart. You need to exercise your heart with these spiritual cardio exercises that we have just gone through. If you practice these spiritual cardio exercises, your heart will be so healthy. God will say of you, I have found Femi (insert your name), a man after My heart.

Why? It is because he does the exercise of rest. He engages in the exercise of reflection. He engages in the exercise of recreation, creating just like God. He engages in the exercise of repentance, quick to repent because he seeks to have a walk with God. And he engages in the exercise of relationships. If you do these five things, your heart will be so unbelievably healthy. Some people reading this today, your heart has grown dark and cold. I pray that God will give you a new heart and a right spirit, in Jesus Name. And for some, what you need to engage in is the exercise of repentance so that you can come into a relationship with your Heavenly Father. Cry out to God right now.

Prayer: Father, in the Name of Jesus, I come to You for a new heart. Cleanse me completely, breathe upon me, and empower me to live and have a thriving relationship with You. Amen!