A Soft Heart part 5
A hard heart won't protect you. Quite the opposite, in fact. A hard heart will only hurt you and everyone you come into contact with. Because you can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you DO have. So if you let hurt, and pain, and bitterness, and fear harden your heart then you'll only have hurt, and pain, and bitterness, and fear to give. And listen, I'm not saying you'll never experience any of those things. Of course you will. What I'm saying is the heart is strong enough to take it. I KNOW a heart can ache, but I don't believe it can break. Not if we guard it and keep it. But remember what it means to guard and keep it: Not closing it down, but opening it up. Letting the love of God flow into, and through, and out of you! Answering the knock on the door without fear. Without expectation. Letting the healing rain soften the ground so that the seed of love can grow. That's what it means to guard your heart. God gave you a pure heart by cutting away the flesh and revealing HIS heart in your chest. And it's the pure in heart that see God. Focusing on Him (His love for you) is what KEEPS your pure heart pure. What makes the truth true... for you. So when exterior things--negative things--try to harden your heart, when you think the best bet is to put up a wall and make your heart steel... I'm here to tell you, "Don't do it!" Don't think you're protecting yourself by refusing to let anything in or out. Because--again--you can only give what you've got. So if you're holding on to hurt... you're going to hurt others. Without even meaning to. But simply because that's what you're holding onto. Let me say it like this, "Let go and let God." It didn't work out the way you thought it would? It didn't go the way you wanted it to? Let it go. Remember that all things work together for the good. Remember that everything in your life got you to this exact moment. And if you don't like it... change it. If you can't change it... change your attitude about it. But above all else, listen to your heart. The issues of life flow from it. Follow your heart and you'll never be lost. You'll be right where you need to be. Maybe just for a time. Maybe only for a season. But this attitude will allow you to learn and grow. This attitude will help you keep and guard your heart. This attitude can be summed up like this, "Sometimes you win. Sometimes you learn." Guys, life is for living. And to live is to love. So if there isn't love flowing into, and through, and out of you then you're missing out on the whole point. You're missing out on your EPIC (Eternal Purpose In Christ) Destiny. We were created to be loved by God, and to love each other with that same love. But you can't do that with a hard heart. You can't give love unless you know and believe that you have love. That you ARE loved. That you are LOVE. It's ok to be soft. It's ok to put yourself out there. To be vulnerable. Because even if it doesn't go the way you think it should... love never fails. The Word already accomplished what it set out to do. So don't let the world change you. Change the world! A soft heart is a heart of love!