Watch Your Heart

[Larry Clark]

Posted at REAL Men RoCK http://realmenrock.blogspot.com

In my earlier writings I wrote about my mom leaving when I was about 3 years old, I wrote about the negative impact two teachers had on me and I wrote about being molested by a homosexual. Those were real events that left negative scars on my life. But I do not have to allow them to control my life and make me who I am.

With this post I want to begin to share the men and women who have had a postive impact on my life. Sometimes we allow the negative experiences we have had control us. Most of us, if we are honest, allow the wounds of our lives control us or we allow the actions of others to reopen our scars. Instead of calling on the Holy Spirit to heal the reopening of these wounds we allow the pains of the past to impact our lives again and we react in defense.

I want to share some positive things that happened in my early life that I believe should overshadow the negative. After my mom left my dad, Charles, still had to travel because of his job but now he took us with him. He and his two brothers owned Clark Construction Company which mainly laid water and sewer lines. I remember dad would take me to the construction sites with him and the men who worked for him would rub my head and in a loving way tease me. These men were strong, rough, firm but comapssionate men. These memories are postive and are the ones I should be pulling from instead of the ones that created wounds in my life.

Proverbs 4: 23 Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that's where life starts.

Our reaction or response to negative or preceived negative events in our lives begins in our heart. The negative and positive events of our life reside in our heart and we either choose to react from the negative or respond from the positive. When faced with negative actions of others I can either choose to allow the old wounds to be reopened or I can choose to call upon the Holy Spirit to protect my wounds. If I allow old wounds to be reopened I will react in a negative way to the person but if I allow the Holy Spirit to protect the wounds I will respond to the person with grace.

I encourage you to check your heart today for wounds that have not been healed and that still control how you are impacted by the actions of others. If you discover a wound share it with someone and seek the healing that only God can provide.

REAL Men RoCK blog is about my life and the issues I have faced. I write from the heart. REAL Men RoCK stands for Righteous Encouraging Accountable Loving Men Rely on Christ Kindness.

I look forward to your comments.