An Open Heart part 1
The thing about the heart is that what's in it... comes out of it. If you have hatred, or bitterness, or sadness, or anger in your heart... that's what will come out. We really do live from the inside out. Because what's inside is always too big (no matter what it is) to stay inside. You've probably done this, or at least known someone who has; you bottle up your emotions, trying to hold them tight, and then, after a while, you explode. You lash out. Something small sets you off because it is literally the straw that breaks the camel's back. Its the tiny snowball that starts an avalanche. So what I'm trying to say is that shutting your heart down--and that is almost always a reaction to getting hurt--is the worst thing you can do. You have to let what's in there come out. And I always say it like this, "Feel what you feel. But don't let it control you." If something makes you angry... be angry. But don't let your anger control you. Let that emotion out in a healthy way. I used to shoot freethrows in the driveway. Some people run. If I'm running its because something's chasing me, but that's not the point. The point is, you have to experience and express your emotions. Or they WILL control you. You can't close your heart down. Even though that's what a lot of people seem to think Proverbs 4:23 is all about. "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." This is our key verse for this Rant series. And we're going to get to the issues of life. But I want to start with "Keep thy heart." The Message Bible reads, "Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that's where life starts." The Amplified Bible says, "Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flows the springs of life." Keeping and guarding. But, again, that doesn't mean shutting it down. It means using it properly. If you keep a car in the garage for a long time it won't run the way it should. Its tires will get soft. Because its meant to be driven. Its meant to be turned on. The same thing with musical instruments. If you don't use them for a long time, they'll get to be out of tune. Guarding your heart doesn't mean, "I got hurt, so I'm shutting it down. That way I won't be able to get hurt again." Guarding your heart means making sure you're using it properly. Keeping your heart doesn't mean closing it. Keeping your heart means keeping it open. The word "keep" is number 5341 in Strong's Hebrew Concordance and it means, "to guard, in a good sense (to protect, maintain, obey, etc.) or a bad one (to conceal, etc.):- beseiged, hidden thing, keep, monument, obeserve, preserve." Maintain your heart like a finely tuned instrument. Obey your heart. Follow your heart. Let what's REALLY inside (LOVE) light the way. Keep your heart open so God's love can get in (and, yes, I understand that its (HE'S) already in there), and so that God's love can get out. That's what the heart is for. That's its (HIS) purpose. To be loved, and to love others with that love. That's the New Commandment for the New Man. That's what life's all about. That's what life IS. A closed heart that can't receive and release love is a dead heart. But an open heart is our life!