Guard Your Heart
Spouses must remember there will always be temptations trying to lure you from your marriage and therefore you need to guard your hearts, for your hearts are the wellspring of life and love in your marriage. You will never feel truly safe in any relationship until you are confident in your own ability to guard and care for your own heart. The foundation of a great marriage is a couple with open hearts, so that God’s love can flow through them. Thus, it is not selfish or self-centered, but necessary and healthy, to learn how to take great care of your heart. Only by investing in your own heart will you be able to keep it open, so that you can minister to your spouse’s heart. Protect your heart by setting emotional boundaries with people. God wants your hearts wide open so He can love people through us, especially your spouse. If you learn to put up a wall every time someone hurts you, you cannot live out the commandment, “Love one another as I have loved you.” Yes, life has proven itself to be full of pain and heartbreak and many allow their hearts to take a lot of abuse without properly dealing with the pain, hurt, frustration and fear that you encounter along the way. Therefore, you will find you can’t feel safe with others until you first feel like you are keeping your own heart safe. Feeling safe with yourself is about trust: Do you trust yourself to take good care of your own heart? A romantic myth in our society is that we will find someone who will take care of us, who will treat us like we deserve to be treated, who will guard and protect our hearts for us. However, people will always let you down. No one can be 100 percent safe and trustworthy. Don’t choose to ignore or neglect heart pain. If you do, the heart will begin to shut down. Act protectively and take care of your heart. A healthy, open heart – one that is nurtured and protected is the key to living out the Greatest Commandment to love God and love others. God created us to love ourselves, and many fail miserably. Learning to take care of your heart begins with how you perceive your own value and worth (My thoughts with The Heart of Remarriage, pages 48-51). Sherry