Accepting the Risk of Heartache

Have you ever had your heart broken? No feeling compares to the “kick in your gut, can’t breathe, leave me alone, don’t want to be bothered” depression that paralyzes and drains you. When you are going through it, you wonder if this is worse than death. If given the choice, you would prefer an ear ache, toothache, and a headache. At least with those things, you can take two aspirins and call someone in the morning. But heartache? Who in their right mind would choose such a thing?

Well, I have some bad news for you. If you are a Christian single, then you have to be willing to experience heartache. I can hear you asking, “Where in the Bible does it say that?” Good question. But hear me out. There is no verse that says, “Thou shalt choose heartache.” But we are to live according to the spiritual principles of loving others as we love ourselves, loving our enemies, forgiving those who mistreat us and trusting in God.

What do all of these things have to do with getting our hearts broken? Another good question! All of these things give guidance on how we can build relationships, including those of a romantic nature. As they relate to our interactions with the objects of our affection; the emphasis is on maintaining and building our relationships. I know many of you would rather cut the brotha or sista loose that seems determined to break your heart, but let’s remember the example that God set as He dealt with us.

When He made us, He had to know that we could reject His love. But thankfully, He chose to love us anyhow. He also had to know in order for us to have our relationship with Him restored; He would have to send His son to pay the ultimate sacrifice. He could have saved Himself a lot of heartache back in the beginning if He chose not to love us. But with all that He knew and could foresee; God still made the decision to love us. Finally, when having a positive relationship with God was the furthest thing from our minds; He patiently loved us past our blindness. His love finally wore us down and we came to our spiritual senses. But how much heartache did God endure while He waited for us to eventually accept His love?

God expects us to show the same kind of love to others that He showed to us. Just like He opened Himself to the possibility of heartache; we must show the same strength in being willing to risk the pain of having our hearts broken. Love is a gamble and at times it seems like life would be much simpler if we closed our hearts to all romantic possibilities. But that would be so un-Christian. Call me a fool, but if given the choice of:

The possibility of finding true love but that leaves me open to having my heart broken (option 1)

or

Protect my heart by against heartache by shutting off all possibilities of experiencing the blissfulness of love; (option 2)

I WILL ACCEPT THE RISK OF HEARTACHE (option 1).