We all know one of the keys to maintaining a healthy heart is a well balanced diet.

It’s a discipline that requires constant attention and self-control; a discipline that, for many, remains a daily battle. 

It’s interesting how beyond food’s obvious benefits, it also acts as a source of comfort to us. The phrase rings true that ‘the way to man’s heart is through his stomach’, as it’s through food that we often experience instant, be it short lived, satisfaction.

Yet, consume an excessive or unhealthy diet and we quickly begin feeling the effects in our body; and over time, we will feel it in our heart.

Many of us go to great lengths to practice clean eating for our physical health, yet we overlook how we could practice this same discipline to improve our spiritual health. Poor diet choices here will build up a different sort of cholesterol that will impede the flow of the Spirit in and throughout us.

We are warned in John 6:27, to ‘not work for food that spoils, but for that food which endures for eternal life…’

Isn’t this is the real comfort we have been craving? Yes, the true way to a man’s heart is through that which is eternal.

Have we even considered the nutritional or eternal value of those items we are digesting on a daily basis?

Unlike the labels we can reference on the sides of packaged foods we eat, there are no such labels found on the activities and content we partake in each day. As a result, we are often blind to the contents and so, we will binge with little consideration to the long term damage being self-inflicted.

Its no wonder then why we end most days feeling bloated with little energy. Over time we sadly become accustomed to this state and before we know it, years have passed and we start encountering various blockages in our heart due to neglect. This ultimately causing problems far worse than the initial discomfort experienced.

What are these unhealthy options we would be wise to avoid? Surely they are equivalent to the junk food we are all guilty of consuming; All men know exactly how this image translates to the spiritually unhealthy places in our lives… giving temporary gratification but never lasting satisfaction.

Instead, what would a balanced heart diet would look like? Suppose we were to begin viewing our days like a sectioned plate that holds the proper portion size of each necessary food groups our heart needs. Consider where we would receive the wholesome and eternal source of proteins and vitamins we desperately need deep within our core.

It’s about maintaining balance throughout our lives and controlling our intake; this may even include limiting healthy options. Remember, too much of a good thing isn’t necessarily what’s best for us, especially if it causes us to lose our hunger and turn to other options.

We would be wise to consider the benefits of intermittent fasting or a cleanse within from time to time if we truly care about our core health.

For only when we do this, we will begin to experience a lightened heart that is truly free.