Widen your hearts

 Have you ever been reading the Bible, and it just sorta knocks you over the head with something so simple, yet so profound? Well that’s what happened to me this morning. 

My students and I are currently reading through the New Testament, and this weeks reading is 2 Corinthians 4-8. 

I found myself in a coffee shop this morning, and now every Tuesday morning for the foreseeable future, but I digress. Anyways there was a large group of retired people meeting there, they had pulled multiple tables together to form one giant table, leaving not very many tables for the rest of the patrons of this establishment. They were also VERY LOUD!!! I have a really good pair of noise canceling headphones (Thanks Siah) that I wear when I am in public trying to work, and despite these headphones I COULD STILL HEAR ALL THEIR CONVERSATIONS even though they were all the way across the room. It. Was. Loud. And I was angry. I wanted to have a nice quiet morning of studying in a coffee shop but noooOOOOoooOOOoooo.

So there I sit, trying to focus, trying to study, trying to take notes, trying to “rise above the noise” when I came across 2 Corinthians 6:13 

“In return (I speak as to children) widen your hearts also.”

Dang… I sat back and stared at that group of people for a while. Let me tell you, it was super convicting. In my head I had written these people off. They were loud, they were obnoxious and worst of all THEY HAD DISRUPTED MY PLANS FOR THE MORNING. But we have been called to have space in our heart for all people. Jesus still loves these people. These people are my “neighbors” and as a follower of God I am called to love these people, im called to “Widen my heart”. 

This made me sit there and reflect and think on my own life for a bit, specifically the regrets I have had from narrowing my heart in the past. Trust me, there are some big ones, maybe I will write about them some day. 

So here is my challenge to myself, and to you this morning. Who in your life do you need to “widen your heart” for? I can already think of a few people in my own life, and I know there are people in yours. What can you do to show those people love TODAY?