Open your heart to allow sweetness inside
"Create in me a pure heart, O God." Psalm 51:10 (NIV)
As I walked down the isle of the corner store, I was distracted from my task when heart-shaped boxes lining the shelves caught my eye. There were a variety of shapes and sizes available for any heart lover.
Being a heart lover myself, I took a few moments to admire the beautiful covers created on them. Some had big red ribbons across the front, while others were dressed in bows and wrapped in delicate red cellophane.
Since my childhood I've enjoyed the sentiments that a valentine's heart represents. However, I have to admit, I couldn't wait to lift the lids on the boxes of candy and get my hands on the chocolate delights that were inside. Some were my favorites, like the nut clusters or smooth vanilla creams. But those precious heart-shaped boxes contained a few undesirable pieces of chocolate, too.
Rather than the smooth, sweet taste I was looking for, they were bitter. So I discarded the undesirables and ate the ones that satisfied my sweet tooth.
Once the lid was off the beautiful box, a variety of tasteful and distasteful chocolates were exposed. When exposed, our human hearts, encompassing our feelings, thoughts, emotions, values and decisions, can be a sweet delight or a distasteful array of bitterness, lies or hurtful sentiments.
These attitudes break the hearts of those around us and cause damage to our emotional health as well.
When we reflect on our interactions with others, how do we respond when someone has disappointed us or we are upset over something? Are we unkind? Has disappointment left our heart feeling fearful and anxious?
Practicing forgiveness or confronting with a warm, kind tone helps soften the bitterness of our hardened heart. Trusting God with our hurts, desires and disappointments can also change resentment into a new dream and vision for our lives.
Asking God to create a new heart in us can help us reach our full potential and our hearts can be beautiful like those delightful valentines.
• Annettee Budzban is a Christian author, speaker, life coach and nurse. She is available to speak at your church or group, or coach you individually. She can be contacted at (847) 543-8413; P.O. Box 532, Grayslake, IL 60030; or Annetteebudzban@aol.com.