Heart Motive

Heart motive.
Have you checked yours lately? It is the driving force behind everything you say and do, and is a rather important thing to consider.
The implied meaning of spoken swords have become extraordinarily important to me here in recent weeks. I began to think I was the victim of some cruel hormonal experiment before recognizing that my emotions were merely responding to a prayer I had prayed recently. I had no idea at the time that praying for my spirit to be receptive to external things and to guide me in correct responses was going to lead me down a path in this direction.
I hear people talking all of the time, but now it's different. My heart hears things in an entirely new way. Many times I believe the speaker had no intention for the message to come across as it did to me, but nonetheless it did. The implied meaning of their words comes across in facial expressions, tone of voice, and body language in general. Mean, hateful words followed by "bless her heart" , "I'm just sayin'", or a million other socially acceptable phrases don't change the true meaning. The heart motive was to tear down and destroy. I suppose there are millions of examples I could choose from, but one sticks out most in my mind currently. Not too long ago I was out shopping with some friends and casually remarked about a future wedding present of Fiestaware... Not that there are any prospects at this time, but being the only single girl in my group of friends, I often daydream about that blissful event. Comments made at that time while likely not intended to hurt someone's feelings did just that. I walked away from that display feeling as though my dreams had been crushed and thrown by the wayside. It would have been easy to react with the motive of hurting someone else as much as I had been hurt... Not what I had prayed for... I prayed for discernment. I prayed for knowledge. God was showing me what I asked for... Just not in the manner I expected. I took a step back, walked away, and contemplated this event. Did I cry?? Well sure... Was I hurt??? You bet... Did my friend intend to hurt my feelings? Probably not. The message was cloaked with the ever popular "I'm just sayin". Still what was the heart motive?
Words spoken out of anger, frustration, or any other emotion besides love are best left unsaid. I want the words that I speak to come across as love. I may have a hard message to bring, but I believe even hard messages can be spoken with love.

Until next time,
~Melody~