Don't Go Breaking my heart

Some of us are old enough remember the hit song from the 70's that Elton John sang with Kiki Dee "Don't go breakin my heart". There have been numerous songs written about the heart and it being broken by others or actions people did. As you read this some of the songs about the heart might be coming into your mind.(Achy breaky heart, Listen to your heart) One of the things we hear from people is that their hearts have been broken by others. Every time a girl breaks up with a guy they say "He broke my heart" We all know what that means and many if not all of us have experienced the pain of a broken heart. The Bible gives us some advice for us to keep our hearts from breaking or being broken.

Ephesians 6:10-17 10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,

The Bible makes it clear that the thing that protects your heart is the Breastplate of Righteousness. Righteousness has such a negative sound to it because our first thought is this is how God wants us to act whether we like it or not.

First of all Righteousness is not attained by us, but through Christ and what He did on the cross.We would never be able to be in right standing with God because of our actions and so Christ became our righteousness for us. He made us appear righteous in God's sight.

1 Corinthians 1:30-31 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."

Secondly, Righteousness is not a negative because it will protect us from hurt and pain. So many have not followed what God has laid out for them to do and they have had their hearts broken and or pierced. If we followed what God tells us to do then Paul tells us that it is like wearing the Breastplate a Roman soldier would wear to protect themselves from harm.

How many times have we had our hearts broken because we went into the world and thought, "This one sin, this one time will not hurt me?" A Roman soldier would have never gone into battle and thought, "this breastplate is heavy and uncomfortable I think I will not wear it this time." If we are honest with ourselves, there are many times we say that righteous living is just a little to heavy and uncomfortable for us. Because we think this way, we leave the armor at home, or at church. The result is that we all know people whose lives, families and careers have been ruined because they chose not to walk in righteousness. One of the problems is we have gone out many times before and fought battles without the breastplate of righteousness and we did not see the damage or the damage was minimul. Our thoughts become relaxed toward righteousness and we think,"what harm is there? It only takes one time and your life is over or damaged, with a long recovery process, if recovery is possible. Yes, God will forgive your sin because of Jesus Christ, but why not avoid the destructive lifestyle and unncecessary pain in your life by listening to what He says in the first place?

Andy Stanley said in one of His messages "If you were God and you saw all the destruction to families, communities, and people, that sin was causing, what would you instruct people to do?" "Do you think if you were God you would tell people to say no to certain behaviors?" Stop looking at righteousness as a negative and see it as a positive in a world that can pierce and break your heart.

If you do not want your heart broken then know that God has a solution, and that solution is Righteousness. First found in Christ and secondly in our lives as we allow the Holy Spirit to grow and flourish inside of us. (Galatians 5:22-23)