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This is a message I’m giving at my church tonight. Thought it might be worthwhile to post it here too in case anybody needed it. (The color key is my collected cues to look at the audience. I’m really bad at that, so I have to remind myself.)
🙂

Good evening! Tonight I am going to talk about hearts and what to do with them. And no, I don’t mean the card game. I also don’t mean the blood-pumping muscular organ in our chest. 

Did you know that according to the Oxford Academic ESC, “The Oxford English dictionary has an entry of over 15,000 words for the word heart, most of which relate to its use as a metaphor for emotional states and reasoning”? In fact, oftentimes when we are talking about a person’s heart, we forget that there’s even a cardiovascular system attached to our words. The actual physical human heart goes very unnoticed, and for good reason. Because when we talk about hearts, we are usually referring to the metaphor. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is far, far more important. 

In the bible, it is commonly agreed upon that the hearts of humans are wicked and unjust. 
For example, in Mark 7:21-23, “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, from the heart, and they defile a person.” 

So, I think we can agree that the heart isn’t looking too good right now. But if that’s the case, why does God want it? 

Well, the same question can be asked about every part of us, because we are human. So every part of us is sinful. Luckily, God sees us as more than our sin. He sees the ground shaking seed that He planted in us before we were born. Before we even opened our eyes, He had given us a gift. All of us. That gift was Jesus, so long ago. And because of Him, we don’t have to live a life of shame and misery. We’re forgiven, blessed, and even smiled upon. From the God of the universe. Do you know how amazing that is? He has made us entirely unique, within the animal kingdom and individually. He values that so much. So what if… what if we simply follow his design for us, instead of fighting so hard to change it? 
I don’t mean that you have to leave your hair a certain color just because you were born that way. Ask anyone who knows me, I don’t believe in that.
No, I’m talking deeper than skin level. Here’s a few questions for you, and you don’t have to answer them out loud. You can write them down if you want, to think about over time. But all I ask is that you open your heart and be honest with yourself. 

Do you recognize your inner self? How has he or she changed throughout your life? What choices have you made that led you here? Have you ever decided to think a certain way, just because you let your emotions take over? 
Because I know that personally, in my life, I know that I have a voice to those willing to listen. I know that God is using me in places I can’t see. And I am confident that through everything I experience, good and bad, at the beginning and end of each day, there will always be God. I know that. But for years I chose to tell myself that I was useless, I would never amount to anything, and I was alone. I knew it wasn’t true, but I didn’t want to face up to the fact that if I accepted the truth, God would eventually ask me to do something that made me uncomfortable. (Hint hint; I’m up here on stage.) I thought I’d be happier ignoring Him and living a life of make-believe. I believed that God existed, and I did try my best to pray before meals and before bed. Sometimes I’d even spice things up and pray in the morning. But I didn’t let Him have enough hold on me to really change me. So I was directly putting a block between us. I was trying to follow the “good vibes” of the world, and I was chasing worldly ideals of “coolness” or whatever. But newsflash, I’m not the coolest person you’ll ever meet! Never have been, never will be. I’m a nerd! But I thought that if I wanted it badly enough, I could just figure out a way to push everything that I am down, and create a new, “better” person that would be more “socially acceptable” and “less weird”, because my heart was sick. I was not comfortable in my own skin, because I no longer recognized myself. I was afraid to own who I was made to be, because that meant accepting whatever future God had put in place for me. 

That is, until I started watching stars at night. Stars have always caught my attention; meteors as well. I’ve seen my fair share of “shooting stars” and spark stars. I was watching the sky the first time that I was called to speak. Some of you might remember, I came up and shared my testimony last year. That was really really hard for me. As a shy and quiet introvert with extreme social anxiety, it was usually difficult enough to just sit in the audience when there were people around. But I was called to make a move. 

My heart was not the same after that. Nor will it ever be. And it’s strange, too, because that was only the beginning of my journey. But it felt like this huge weight, an enormous task that nothing else would ever measure up to. Fortunately I was proved wrong when I continued to share messages. Then, after much consideration, I ended up hosting an event for women right here. And it was like nothing I’d ever done before. Because you see, I was made new. I was given a gift and an inspiration to use it and I can no longer just sit still. I find myself unable to keep quiet. You might not know me but do you remember when you first started seeing me? Probably last year. Maybe a little the year before that. Because I chose to be invisible. But I’ve been coming to this church for over three years. Then I made a change, and that sudden flip has made my life so different, and it’s for the better. 

Ezekiel 36:26 says, “I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit in you. I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” 

I have a new heart. And the minute you step up and listen, and do whatever He’s calling you to do, you will have a new heart also. But don’t give God rules or limits to what you will or won’t do. He will use you, but not if you are stubborn enough to try to lead the mission. You have to let Him lead. And yes, it might be scary sometimes and no, it will not be easy. BUT, just look at me. I went from afraid, to bold. From shy, to speaking out. From quiet, to never shutting up. (Just ask my friends.) 

I went from a child of the world, to a child of the Most High. 

He wants to use you. Are you going to let Him?

In John 14:27 it is said that, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” 
God will use you for things that might seem daunting and scary, but He will not leave you alone to face it by yourself! He wants to help you. He wants you to love Him, not resent Him. He will give you the peace you need to get through whatever your obstacle is. In fact, the phrase “do not be afraid” is said 365 times in some versions of the Bible. That’s once for every day of the year, because God knew that we were stubborn enough to need to hear it every day! So do not think that He will abandon you now. Although our hearts can be cowardly things, we are called to be brave for a reason. 

The last verse I want to share is in Song of Solomon 8:6, “Place Me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave.” 
We are to let Jesus take care of our heart by giving it to him. That doesn’t mean that you can’t love people, places or even things. That’s not at all what it means. It simply means that you love Him above all else, and you trust Him with your life. He is your power source, not the world. And it’s a good thing, too; because the world is not steady. It is moody and unstable, just like my sassy little hamster named Bump. (I wrote this a few days before when I preached, which was just before she passed away. But I decided to keep her in because I feel like taking her out would take away her last “hurrah”. I did choke-up on stage, though.) The world cannot be trusted to give you what you truly need. Only God can do that. He is the same today as He was yesterday, and before that, and in the future He still will not change. So will you trust God with your heart and give it over to Him? It isn’t always easy, but it is so so so worth it in the end. The greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul and mind. Did you hear that? Heart. He wants your heart. 

And the second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. Why? Because it draws us closer to each other, but more importantly, it showcases God’s love. For us and for others. Did you know that the word “love” appears 310 times in the king James Bible, 348 times in the American Standard Bible, and 551 times in the New International Version Bible? And yet not once does Jesus say “I love you” in any of the text. Not once! It wasn’t recorded in any of the Bibles I’ve ever read! Because He shows people that He loves them, and that’s what we are called to do as well. Of course saying “I love you” isn’t bad, but actions speak louder than words. This is what happens when you are given a new heart. 

So… all this being said, where are you in your journey right now? Have you accepted Him? Have you let Him in? Have you let Him work? Don’t be ashamed if you’re just starting your journey; everyone has to start somewhere. I only truly started mine, like, last year. And I’ll be a legal adult in August. That being said, try not to make any excuses. Don’t wait to start just because it sounds like hard work. It can be, don’t get me wrong. But only if you fight it. And you are never too young, or too old. It doesn’t matter if you like black or if you like rainbows. It doesn’t matter if you are an extrovert or introvert or even an ambivert. It doesn’t matter what kind of school you go to, what kind of pets you have or don’t have, or how updated you are on technology. (Trust me; I am not at all up to date on tech. I still read books.) Regardless of your social standing, or any of the other labels or specifications that people might put on you, you have a purpose. You can make a difference. God does not give people children without giving that child a reason to exist. You  have  a  reason  to  exist. And maybe you haven’t found that reason. You may never see the impact that you make on people’s lives but I promise you, if God is working in you, there will be an impact. 

So go on and Sprout. Bud. Blossom. Grow your fruit. Wherever you are on your walk, press forward and grow. It will not be for nothing. 

Just give Him your heart, and watch as you are transformed.