God gave Solomon “largeness of heart” (1 Kings 4:29) and the psalmist asks God repeatedly in Psalm 119 to enlarge his heart. Paul says to the Corinthians in 2 Cor. 6:11: “O Corinthians! We have spoken openly to you, our heart is wide open.” The King James says “our heart is enlarged.” So what is it to have a large heart?
We sometimes describe a person as having a big heart or we speak of hearts swelling. A large heart swells to make room. Make room for what? Usually to make room for more people, like squeezing in an extra chair around the table for another guest. It doesn’t shrink back or turn them away. It welcomes more. So a large heart is a generous heart, willing to share, willing to listen, willing to be interrupted, willing to be spent and used.
A large heart is a courageous heart. We imitate Paul in the verse above who spoke openly and opened his heart wide to the Corinthian church. This is high-risk living! This requires faith. Think of the women in history who have stood courageously for Christ in the midst of persecution. They had large hearts, like Priscilla and Aquilla (Romans 16:3-4) who “risked their own necks” for Paul.
How do we get large hearts? “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart” (Psalm 27:14).
0
0
Thank you for these verses. They are a wonderful reminder. We can often become weary with service towards others, but with God’s perfect strength he will only enlarge our hearts to make room for more.
Beautifully stated and a wonderful exhortation. Thank you. I really am enjoying the daily encouragements – great idea. Grace, Peace and Joy in this New Year.
Thank you so much for these daily reminders. They are so very needed and appreciated!
This one and the last one make me think of meat. To tenderize it and make it broad enough to wrap around a filling, sometimes you have to pound it. Sometimes God ordains suffering in our lives to make our hearts to pound some largeness and tenderness into us.