Book Review

Enemies of the Heart
Andy Stanley
Multnomah Books

In Andy Stanley’s book Enemies of the Heart he writes about “The Terrifying truth of what lurks in your heart”. As I read I was reminded of many things concerning our hearts. There are two types of heart spoken of in the Bible. There is the physical muscle that pumps blood through the body, and the Spiritual (or nonphysical) heart which is “that mysterious, wonderful confusing part of you that enables you to love, laugh, fear and experience life. It is the sphere in which relationship happens. And it is the sphere in which relationships are broken.” This is the type of heart Jesus spoke about throughout the Gospels. Both hearts are equally important in regards to life and both are the central command center for healthy living.

Both hearts have one thing in common and this is the dreaded heart disease. Pastor Andy Stanley defines them as the “four enemies of the heart” which are anger, jealousy, greed and guilt. Each enemy has the potential to eat away at relationships, moral fiber and most importantly our relationship with God. Any of these symptoms in our lives is a sign of an unhealthy heart.

According to Stanley, “The world is full of outside forces that have the power to disrupt the rhythm of your heart… the inevitable pain and disappointments of life have caused you to set up walls around your heart… but the truth is your heart is out of sync with the rhythm it was created to maintain.” Jesus states in Matthew 12:33 – “For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” One of the ways we can check our hearts is by checking the words we speak or the way we treat others. Do your words and actions match up with the Savior you proclaim?

Like most heart disease, it doesn’t just appear overnight. Usually it is the result neglect and allowing impurities into our systems that causes damage to our hearts. In the same way, our road to a healthy heart is not an overnight process; it will take some hard work and time to get back on the road to health. The first step to recovery is identifying the problem and taking action from there.

How are things with your heart?

“I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review”