“Lord, soften my heart and thicken my skin.”
This is a prayer I pray often. Because I’m learning two things in this world:
- This world is filled with a lot of people who need grace
- This world is filled with a lot of people who are really mean
I have grown cynical in recent years. Movies/songs/everyday life that used to inspire and fill with warm fuzzies usually make my eyes roll now. I hate that. I want to be moved by things and filled with joy and inspiration. It’s just really hard to do that when there are a lot of jerks in the world. My guard is up.
And I don’t want to let my guard completely down. I don’t want to let the jerks all the way in. Some people shouldn’t be allowed too far into your life.
I want a soft heart toward the beautiful and the broken things in this world, but I don’t want to be so shaken by the mean and hurtful things.
How do you keep a soft heart along with thick skin?
It’s kind if weird. I have always been a little skeptical, a little cynical, a little hard hearted. Something has been moving within me of late. I “ooze awesome” at unexpected time when previously I would have been unmoved and dry eyed. I don’t think there is anything I have done to cause this. Maybe there have been some changes in my life I can point to: new church, happier faith group. I just don’t know.
Thanks for sharing. 🙂
The way I try to soften my heart is to think that other people have stories too. They have been beat up and bruised by life too. I try to encourage instead of break down by my response to others.
I try to remember that too.