Inner health requires intimacy with the Father and with His people. A whole heart includes intimate, open relationships with people who are going where you are going. Remember, God said you cannot love the Lord with all your heart without loving your neighbor as yourself (Matt. 22:37-39). You must have intimate relationships with people.

Someone said, "I love the Lord, but I hate people." The funny thing is that we are all made in His likeness and image. If you hate people, what are you really saying about God? You don't really love God; you love your fantasy.

Someone said, "I'm going to the mountains to get close to the Lord." If you want to get close to God, go to church. That is why God said, "Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God" (Ps. 92:13). Relationships with those of like heart build us up and we grow stronger with God.

If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
(1 John 4:20)

If you believe you love God but don't love people, don't want to serve, volunteer, or get involved, then you've deceived yourself. You can't love God, whom you haven't seen, if you don't love the people who surround you.

It's time to be honest with ourselves about relationships. Many times we do fine in situations where we can keep people at a distance, but a whole heart requires us to open up.

Proverbs 13:20 says, "He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed." Make a decision to build positive, godly, intimate relationships.

The heart affects everything we do as Christians. As mentioned earlier, God works from the inside out, not from the outside in. You cannot deal with debt, sickness, relationship problems, or depression from an outward perspective. You must get to the heart. Out of your heart you will overcome all of the problems in your life.

If we view the keys to inner healing as vitamins, we soon realize we have daily minimum requirements in each of these areas. You need to have certain vitamins and minerals each day to be healthy. You cannot go for a year just eating junk and then eat carrots all day for one day. That will not make you healthy.

There is no reason why we can't live long, healthy lives if we eat a balanced diet and get the right vitamins. However, without the daily minimum requirements, we become malnourished.

We struggle, we are tired, we are not feeling well, and we take medicine to cover up the symptoms. Many times the medicine is needed because we are not doing what is required for daily health.

Just as that is true in the natural realm, it is also true in the emotional and spiritual realms. If you will do what is necessary for daily minimum requirements, you will stay whole in your spirit, soul, and body.

Source: Healing the Orphaned Heart by Casey Treat
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers