Beautiful Heart

Who Has The Most Beautiful Heart?

There is a kingdom in a faraway land where there lived very special people. These people are special because they consider their mot valuable possession to be their hearts. In fact, some of these people are able to hold their hearts in their hands – a very special gift indeed – and if a heart gets broken, it may be repaired at the local heart specialist!

Now in this kingdom lived a young man who claimed to have a perfect heart. He was very proud of his heart because it had no cracks or scars. It was very solid and could not be hurt or penetrated by anything at all. One day the young man was showing his perfect heart to a large group of people – something which he did quite often. People came from miles around to see his perfect heart and for such occasions he kept it locked in a beautiful glass case. No one in the kingdom dared touch him or his perfect heart.

As they were all admiring the perfect heart, a frail voice arose from the crowd and said: “My heart is more beautiful than yours.”

The crowd was quiet for a moment, and the young man said scornfully, “Come out of the crowd and show me your beautiful heart. Compare it to mine.” The old man did not speak – he simply showed his heart to everyone in the crowd. He did not keep his heart in a fine glass case, but carried it with him at all times. The young man immediately began to laugh when he saw the old heart. “That is the ugliest heart I’ve ever seen. It’s made of pieces that don’t even fit together perfectly. You are a fool, Old man !”

“Yes”, said the old man, yours is perfect looking but I would never trade with you. You see, every scar represents a person to whom I have given my love – I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them, and sometimes they give me a piece of their heart which fits into the empty place in my heart – but because the pieces aren’t exact, it have some rough edges.

Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away, and the other person hasn’t return a piece of his heart to me. These are the empty holes – giving love is sometimes like this. The holes remind me of the love I have for these people, and I hope someday they may return and fill the space. So, now do you see what true beauty is?

The young man stood silently with tears running down his cheeks. He realize he was always so busy taking care of himself and his perfect heart that he has had no time to love anyone else.

He walked up to the old man, reached into his heart, and ripped a piece out. He offered it to the old man with trembling hands. The old man took his offering and then took a piece from his old scarred heart and placed it in the hole in the young man’s heart. It fit, but not perfectly, as there were some jagged edges.

The young man looked at his heart, not perfect anymore, but more beautiful than ever since love from the old man’s heart flowed into his.

God wants all of us – young, old, big or small – to be his messengers of love to the world. God wants everyone in this world to know Him and to know His love. As God’s children, it is our responsibility to love and care about people who doesn’t know God – because God love and care for them – that is why He died on the cross for all of us. We must learn to love lost people the way God does.

I want all of us to ask ourselves – is your heart one that is filled with love and care for people – or is it one that is only filled with selfish love for yourself? When God look at our hearts – is it a truly beautiful heart?