Fragile Things

We put fragile things up and out of reach, in high places where they can be seen but not tampered with. Perhaps on a shelf or in a cabinet. We protect them from being damaged and broken because we treasure them and want to keep them safe.

We put dangerous things locked up and out of reach. They are closed off and we protect others from them. Shut off behind closed doors, locked up in a safe. We aren’t worried about it being damaged. We worry about it damaging someone else.

Sometimes things happen in our lives and it messes up the way we think about our beautiful, fragile, and our dangerous things.

Last summer I let my youngest, Harrison, walk out the door with my phone while he was taking a video. As soon as we came to the brick steps he dropped it and the screen cracked. I couldn’t use the screen at all. Little pieces of glass cut my fingers when I tried. I could have been upset with him, but the truth is I had gotten careless and forgotten how fragile the thing was. 

I put my fragile thing in someone else’s hands and he wasn’t capable of handling it with care. 

It was broken and then it became dangerous when I tried to use it.

We can come to neglect the beautiful and the treasured. We become careless with it and let others handle it when we know they are incapable of caring for it. Then our beautiful and treasured things get broken.

So it is with our hearts.

"Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life.” (Proverbs 4:23, BSB)

I didn’t guard my fragile thing with diligence. Instead, I let it get broken and then paid $150 to have the front screen replaced on an iPhone 8 during the iPhone 12 era. 

Once upon a time, I put my heart, a precious and fragile thing, in other people’s hands and they broke it. I didn’t cherish it. I didn’t protect it. I didn’t care for it. Maybe I cared for their hearts more than mine or maybe I just didn’t think my heart was worthy to be treasured. The point is that it was my job to guard it and I failed to do so. 

Over the years, when I tried to use my heart to love others, it was already broken and shattered. It became dangerous to use and it hurt people when they got near it. The scriptures also say that:

“The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45, ESV).

The reality is this, no one except Jesus is trustworthy enough to cherish our hearts. 

If you have placed your heart into the hands of untrustworthy people instead of caring for it, be encouraged. Jesus knew we would have days of heartache and that we would be prone to carelessness. That is why He came:

“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” (Psalm 147:3).

It wasn’t until I let Jesus start healing my heart, and then guarding it against further damage, that it stopped being so dangerous. 

Dear friend, if you find yourself cutting others with your words, bring your heart to Jesus and let Him heal it. 

I stand with you in your fight to guard your heart and reclaim what has always belonged to you. In Jesus' name.

Be blessed!

You are loved!