I don’t know why but my hands are freezing at this very moment. My house in warm and I’ve got on a sweatshirt but my hands can hardly plink this keyboard to make this post! Maybe it’s because of the old saying: “cold hands=warm heart”. I can only hope that would be the case.

Over the years I’ve had to fight not letting my heart grow cold over all the trials and troubles I’ve seen others face, as well as the ones I’ve personally encountered. I’m constantly being reminded of hardships on a daily basis. As a pastor, you can imagine there are many things I don’t want to hear and yet I’m in a position that affords me that opportunity. So what can I do to ensure my heart stays warm? Here are a few things I have to remind myself regularly.

I am not the Savior. It didn’t take me too long 8 years ago when I stepped into this role to realize that I can’t keep my phone ringer on all the time. I used to sleep with all notifications “on” all night long. I soon realized, I wouldn’t get much good sleep if I kept doing that! I had to accept and others did too, that I cannot be omniaccessible. Only God is omniscient and omnipresent. Using DND (Do Not Disturb) has really helped me to limit the amount of access to my heart and mind to keep me sensitive to the needs of others. Letting Jesus be the Savior has “saved” me again and again from my heart growing cold.

People are always going to have needs. Remember when Mary anointed Jesus’ feet? Jesus made the statement that the poor would always be among us. I wish I could make it so that no one would be poor. However, the harsh reality is that we live in a world where there will always be poorer people among us. Remembering that it isn’t my job to make the poor rich is something I have to cling to. It also isn’t my job to give the poor all I have. It’s my calling to give Jesus all I have and let Him tell me what to do with it. That means that in some cases, I may have to say “no”, not because I don’t care but because God may be doing something different that money can’t buy or fix. God wants to use me to meet others’ needs but I am also called to be a good steward of what He has given me. Bringing requests to God that have been brought to me helps warm my heart.

I can’t meet every need. There were many people around Jesus who didn’t get all of their “felt needs” met. Even if I had the resources to do more, I’m not sure Jesus would expect me to do that for everyone (Again, He’s the Savior). Jesus did heal many time and again and it changed their lives completely. But Jesus only raised two people from the dead (Jarius’ daughter and Lazarus) and He only fed a large group of thousands twice. There are certainly times when a sacrifice can be made or doing something on a large scale in faith is appropriate, yet, I’m not Jesus and there is no way I could ever personally meet all the needs of which I am aware. Being needy keeps us all dependent on the Lord. Remembering that is an important aspect for my mental and emotional health and helps to keep my heart warm.

Looking at people with compassion. Jesus would see people differently and this is what I have to do to keep my heart warm (Matthew 9:36, 14:14, 15:32, 20:34). I have to remind myself that it’s not their needs that define them. I don’t need to allow their requests to shape the way I view them. What I must do on a continual basis is fold my cold hands in prayer for those in need and allow God’s Spirit to warm my heart over and over.

How do you keep your heart warm in a world that is so cold?