Guard Your Heart

     Someone recently described me as a, "very relational person." This slightly offbeat description puzzled me. He even went so far as to say that I "wear my heart on my sleeve" in a sense. I didn't like that statement. I've always been warned against this practice for the simple reason that it opens up the opportunity for all types of hurt to come in. Upon further reflection however, I've realized that I have indeed been "wearing my heart on my sleeve" for the majority of my life.

     I've struggled with the practice of keeping love at the center of all my actions while still guarding my heart in the process. I didn't understand how it was possible to be truly kind and loving while still holding back parts of your heart in an effort to stay protected. To be completely honest, I still don't entirely comprehend it.

     However, I have come to recognize the extreme importance of guarding one's heart. God warns us about this relentlessly throughout scripture. Proverbs 4:23 states, "Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life." I feel like we as women (especially Catholic women) constantly hear about the duty we have to protect our purity. Even more often, we hear the dangers that could arise if we fail to do so. We commonly ignore the truth that the consequences of recklessly opening the gates to our heart (in other ways besides physical intimacy) can be just as detrimental. 

     I wish I could write an entire post on ways to put this practice of guarding instead of just "giving away" into action. But, like I mentioned, I'm not sure how to do this myself. I'm confident that through prayer and reflection, God will reveal to all of us how to best do this in accordance with the circumstances of our lives.

     In the meantime, I recommend checking out this post, "Emotional Chastity " written by Tess over at "The Catholic Young Woman." She writes an awesome article about guarding one's heart in terms of guy-girl friendships. It's incredibly eye-opening and is sure to change your perspective on a few aspects of this frequently talked about topic.