Guarding Hearts...

Earlier this year on my xanga I posted some reflections from a message I heard on guarding your heart and the hearts of others. I’ve been wrestling with this for the last two or three days, so I went back to my notes from the message. Here are few ideas that still stick out to me:
--There is an obligation to guard others’ hearts.
--We protect our bodies but do we protect the heart of the matter?
--You treat things differently once you discover it has worth.

I’m not really sure what it means to guard the hearts of others, but I do think it is something we should be doing. After all we are a body, created to walk with each other in our journey. I think it includes an aspect of accountability. If I know someone is putting him/herself in a situation where his/her heart is at risk, I should lovingly express my concern. And as a sister in Christ, I should be very intentional about not putting those around me in those situations. Does that make since? Is that what it means to guard someone else’s heart?

There are a couple situations where friends of mine aren’t guarding their hearts and definitely not the hearts of those around them. In one situation an individual is continually allowing things to happen that aren’t healthy for others involved, or them for that matter. I know this person has had people mention things about it, but he/she just doesn’t seem to get it. I’ve even made a comment a couple times and all I get back are these excuses that supposedly justifies things.

This has been weighing pretty heavy on me all day. My heart aches because I know what is coming down the road. It has happened before…more than once. In the end everyone involved will lose and it is going to be painful. I don’t understand why you would willingly put someone in a place where you know they are just going to get hurt. Do I need to draw diagram, paint a picture or just be more intentional and blunt about it?

I can’t help but cry about it all. I hate crying! I hate seeing people hurt. I hate knowing that it all could be avoided but not having any way to change it. I hate the sometimes you have to just wait for people to learn things the hard way. It infuriates me that the whole thing is happening because it is stupid. And I hate the ignorance card that keeps getting played. The only thing I know I can do is pray. I don’t hate praying and praying is what I am going to do!

I would love to hear other people’s thoughts on this idea of guarding each other’s hearts, so feel free to share!