Hearts

We need to focus so much more on celebrating someone's strengths than criticizing his or her weaknesses. The one is called edification. Its antonym is vilification. Edification deepens one's love for someone else. It strengthens two people's love for one another. Vilification not only destroys love, but may in time destroy the one--or ones--we are called to love. "Love covers a multitude of sins." Constant criticism hardens the heart and builds resistance in a heart to humility, and thus, repentance. Those two traits flourish in a heart that knows love--gracious, encouraging love. If we instead water their hearts with negativity will they not believe that God's attitude toward them is the same? Will they not doubt His love for them as well? Will not their understanding of His love wither and die? Nothing is harder than a hard heart. A critical spirit toward others is the soil in which the seed of bitterness is planted in their souls. And nothing is harder to root out of someone's heart than bitterness. We turn them into Esau's--face filled with the bitter tears of self-pity but not one tear of hope and joy for the mercy and grace that God--who knows them better than anyone else--is eager to pour into their lives. Are we going to be nurturers of the hearts we love? Or are we going to be refiners of hearts of stone?