I Know Your Heart
by Courtney Shuster
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Can I share with you four words that changed the way I interact with people?
First, let me fill you in on a couple pieces of my personality. On the scale of emotional sensitivity, I land on the high end of the spectrum. When it comes to what other people think – that matters to me. I also classify myself as an “over-thinker.” So, when someone else makes a critical comment that I am emotionally sensitive to I tend to overthink it. Sometimes I get hurt, sometimes I get upset and sometimes I get angry. These are not the good positive feelings I want to be known for, so they are not feelings I enjoy admitting to. But I have them, we all do. Sometimes we are most sensitive to the comments that the people we love and are close to make.
When a friend told me “I know your heart” my perspective changed.
Those four words opened my eyes to a better way of reacting to people. I had offered up a piece of advice to this friend and later felt I had overstepped with my opinion. When I apologized to her for that she reassured me that the advice was taken well, and if it hadn’t been – she “knew my heart.” She knew that I loved her and cared for her, and that I would not intentionally hurt her with any piece of advice or comment I made. My friend was ready to filter my advice through what she knew about my heart. I was so grateful for her grace.
In that moment I decided that I would try to remember the heart of the person I am talking to before letting my emotional sensitivity take over and take off. This has helped me be a better vessel of grace and it has enabled me to grow through criticism instead of shutting down. My thought for all of us is how much brighter could our lights shine if we thought about the content of a person’s heart before reacting to the words of the mouth?
Call To Action
How do you react when a critical comment or piece of advice is given to you? Use the negative emotions as warnings to turn on your “heart filter”. Before outwardly (or even after) reacting to the words think about the person and their heart making the statement. Ask God to help your process the words in a positive way allowing Him to fill you with grace and the opportunity to grow.
