Romans 12:9 (NIV)
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is
good.
One day a young man was standing in the middle of the
town proclaiming that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley. A
large crowd gathered and they all admired his heart for it was perfect.
There was not a mark or a flaw in it. Yes, they all
agreed it truly was the most beautiful heart they had ever seen. The young man
was very proud and boasted more loudly about his beautiful heart.
Suddenly, an old man appeared at the front of the crowd
and said
"Why your heart is not nearly as beautiful as
mine."
The crowd and the young man looked at the old man's
heart. It was beating
strongly, but full of scars, it had places where pieces
had been removed and
other pieces put in, but they didn't fit quite right and
there were several jagged edges. In fact, in some places there were deep gouges
where whole pieces were missing.
The people stared -- how can he say his heart is more
beautiful, they thought?
The young man looked at the old man's heart and saw its
state and laughed.
"You must be joking," he said. "Compare
your heart with mine, mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars and
tears."
"Yes," said the old man, "Yours is perfect
looking but I would never trade with you. You see, every scar represents a
person to whom I have given my love - I tear out a piece of my heart and give
it to them, and often they give me a piece of their heart which fits into the
empty place in my heart, but because the pieces aren't exact, I have some rough
edges, which I cherish,
because they remind me of the love we shared.
Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away, and the
other person hasn't returned a piece of his heart to me. These are the empty
gouges -- giving love is taking a chance.
Although these gouges are painful, they stay open,
reminding me of the love I have for these people too, and I hope someday they
may return and fill the space I have waiting. So now do you see what true
beauty is?"
The young man stood silently with tears running down his
cheeks. He walked up to the old man, reached into his perfect young and
beautiful heart, and ripped a piece out. He offered it to the old man with
trembling hands.
The old man took his offering, placed it in his heart and
then took a piece from his old scarred heart and placed it in the wound in the
young man's heart. It fit, but not perfectly, as there were some jagged edges.
The young man looked at his heart, not perfect anymore
but more beautiful than ever, since love from the old man's heart flowed into
his. They embraced and walked away side by side.
Are you giving a part of your heart away to somebody that
needs it?
Dear Lord, we pray that our heart would be one of scars and
jagged edges. Help us not Your love to our self but that we would share it with
those around us that need some love today. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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