The Condition of the Human Heart

 Valentine’s Day has always been in the top 3 of my favorite holidays. I know that in a lot of ways, it’s just a secular holiday that we as Americans have made up as another way to generate higher revenue in the world of restaurants, flowers and candy. 

For some, it’s a sad day that reminds them of a broken heart, loss or loneliness. But how I’ve always looked at it, it’s the one holiday set aside to celebrate love. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a romantic kind of love, if that’s not the season of life you’re in. But I can’t think of much else in the world worth celebrating more than love. 

“So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13‬:‭13‬ ‭

When I was a little girl, I was pretty much raised by a single Mom. We didn’t have much and that’s okay because we had love. Every year, when Valentine’s Day rolled around, my Mom would always get us a big bouquet of balloons, or flowers, a big teddy bear or some sort of animal that sings and dances. Sometimes she would even have things delivered to our class at school. She never wanted us to feel unloved on Valentine’s Day. It was just a thing she did and it always stayed with me. Now I try to make sure my own girls can expect the same thing each year on Valentine’s Day. For the rest of their lives, whether they’re in a season of loneliness, a season of loss or a season filled with so much love that it’s spilling out of their pores, I just pray they never question how deeply loved they are. I think Valentine’s Day is a beautiful holiday and love is worth celebrating. 

When God put on my heart to write on this Valentine’s Day, He kept bringing to mind this past Sunday. I was sitting in on my Mom’s 4th grade Sunday school class, which my oldest daughter also attends and as I walked in, my Mom says to me:

 “Don’t answer right now but think about it for a minute and get back to me…when you think about the human heart, what comes to mind?” 

This question was written on the board and the class had given words like love, kindness, fear, heart-beating, red, Christ filled etc. 

So I went to grab a cup of coffee and before I even made it down the hall, the first word that popped in my head was “misleading”. I instantly remembered a sermon Pastor Shane preached years back where he talked about this. I won’t try to regurgitate the entire thing, but I’ll tell you what God spoke to me out of it and what has stuck with me all these years. 

We live in a world that teaches us to “follow our heart” and boy can that be dangerous. People often make life altering decisions or do things they know are wrong and try to glaze it over by saying “I was just following my heart”. Please understand, your heart can and will mislead you. It can be deceptive and can lead you down a path filled with pain and confusion.

From the beginning of time, humans were being misled by their hearts.

“Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭6‬:‭5‬ ‭

I think it is so important to make sure we are following Christ and not our hearts. If He is our focus, then what our hearts desire should fall in line with His will. His word says that He gives His children a NEW heart. You think that would be necessary if the old one was good to start with? Well, of course not. 

So on this Valentine’s Day, don’t let your heart mislead you. Seek after Christ in all you do and let Him guide your steps.

Go hard after Christ-centered love. Buy the flowers. Dance in the kitchen. Get the chocolates. Hold your loved ones a little tighter. Tell your children all the reasons you love them. Talk about what God’s word says love should look like and remind them to follow Christ even when the world tells them to follow their heart.

Happy Valentine’s Day!!!