Rooted

Everyone's heart can be related to a location of some kind. Whether it be an open field, a house, or a fortress, everyone's heart has its own qualities, residents, and security measures. But if each and every human heart is, in reality, some form of fortification, what does it mean to be broken-hearted?

According to Webster, to be broken-hearted is to be "overcome by grief or despair", but I don't believe this definition to fully encompass the meaning behind a truly broken heart. As I was reminded on Sunday morning, the only way for someone to break another person's heart is for that person to break through the heart's "security", and become rooted in it in order to break it down from within. After having their heart broken enough times, a person begins to become hardened, as they are forced to refortify the guard around their heart. When someone's heart is broken by someone or something around them, it is a hard and tedious process to rebuild the guards around it without hardening themselves to another situation or person. All that said to state the obvious: a broken heart is a negative thing.

"Break my heart for what breaks yours..."

So why is it that as Christians, we ask God to break our hearts? For some, it's just an impulse...we enjoy that brief spiritual moment when we feel broken over something God brings to our attention. But for others, it's so much more than that. For God to truly break our hearts, we must be willing to let Him through the walls and allow Him to take root in our lives, captivating us and breaking our hearts completely in the process.