Inside Out: A 40 Day Journey to Transforming Your HeartSample

God Enlarges My Heart

In Dr. Seuss’s book, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” we see the Grinch is all about destroying everything having to do with Christmas. He is mean-spirited, ruthless, and a bully. He has no friends and no joy until he meets Cindy Lou. Cindy believes that the Grinch could be different. She believes that his heart, which was two sizes too small, can grow and care for others. She doesn’t give up. She pursues him. She invites him to a Christmas event. And sure enough, the Grinch begins to change. His heart grows for the people of Whoville, and he restores what he destroyed and returns what he stole.

Though we may not immediately relate to being compassionless thieves in the night like the Grinch, we just may relate to him when it comes to having a heart three sizes too small. Our human hearts are too small on their own to live out what God asks us to be and do. To have a God-sized heart, we must ask Him to enlarge it. Psalm 119:32 says, “I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart!” When we invite God to enlarge our hearts, we: care for the poor, love the unlovely, forgive the unforgivable, and have compassion for the lost. To live these character traits out, we must ask God to make our hearts as big as His is for those around us.

When God enlarges our hearts, we see the needs of those around us. We see their depravity and have compassion for them instead of hatred. This moves us to pray for their salvation and for God to direct their hearts toward Him, so that, they might be saved from their sin and destruction. 1 Chronicles 29:18 says, “O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you.” God is the one who enlarges our hearts so that we would pray for others’ salvation. It is not natural in our hearts to pray for others. It is when we ask God to give us His heart that we can do so.

Take a Moment:

• What sort of people do you need to ask God to enlarge your heart for?

• Who can you pray for that needs salvation?

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, please enlarge my heart to care for the people around me. Enable me to see the lost people around me to pray for them and to take the steps of faith to share Jesus with them. Enlarge my heart to care for the poor, to forgive those who have hurt me, and to love those who are difficult to love. Grow my heart to be like Yours. Amen.