What sort of Heart have you got?
Most people seem to think only of their external appearance—of their personal beauty, or their dress. If they have a handsome face, or a good figure, or a fine attire, they are perfectly satisfied; nay, more—we often see persons showing vanity and pride merely because they have beautiful garments on, or because they are called pretty or handsome.
Now I am not such a sour old fellow as to despise these things—it is certainly desirable to appear well; but I have remarked that those persons who are vain of outside show, forget that the real character of a person is within the breast, and that it is of vastly greater importance to have a good heart than a handsome person.
The heart within the body is of flesh, but it is the seat of life. Upon its beatings our life depends. Let the heart stop, and death immediately follows. Beside this, the heart is influenced by our feelings. If one is suddenly frightened, it beats more rapidly. Any strong emotion, or passion, or sensation, quickens the action of the heart. It is for these reasons,—because the heart is the seat of life, and because it seems to be the centre or source of our passions and feelings,—that we often call the soul itself, the heart. Thus the heart of flesh is a sort of emblem or image of the soul. When I ask, therefore, what sort of heart you have got? I mean to ask what sort of soul you have got? We often hear it said that such a person has a hard heart, and such a one has a kind or tender heart. In these cases we do not speak of the heart of flesh within, but of the soul. A hard heart, in this sense, is a soul that is severe, harsh, and cruel; a kind and tender heart, is a soul that is regardful of the feelings of others, and desirous of promoting the peace and happiness of others.
You will see, therefore, that it is very important for every individual to assure himself that he has a good heart. The reasons why it is important, I will endeavor to place before you.
In the first place, “God looketh on the heart.” He does not regard our dress, or our complexion, or our features. These do not form our character; they have nothing to do with making us good or bad. If God looks into the breast and finds a good heart there, a tender, kind soul, full of love toward Him and all mankind—a heart that is constantly exercised by feelings of piety and benevolence, he approves of it, and he loves it. God does not care what sort of garment covers such a heart, or what complexion or features a person with such a heart has got. He looketh on the heart, and finding that good, he bestows his blessing, which is worth more than all the wealth of this wide world. Personal appearance is of no value in the sight of God. It is only because men value it, that it is to be regarded. But upon the character of the heart, the favor or displeasure of God depends. It is of the greatest importance, therefore, for each person to see what kind of heart he has got. If he loves to do mischief; if he loves to say or do harsh and unkind things; if he loves to wound the feelings of others; if he loves to see another suffer; if he wishes, in any way, to injure another in his mind, body, or estate, then he has a bad heart; and God looks on that bad heart as we look upon a malignant and wicked countenance. Before God, every heart has a character. We cannot see into the bosom, but God can. All things are transparent to Him, and he looketh on the heart as we do upon one another’s faces. And to Him, every heart is as distinctly marked as men’s countenances are to us. A wolf has a severe, harsh, and cruel expression in his countenance. A bad heart has as distinct an expression in the sight of God, as the wolf’s face to human eyes. God cannot love, and he will not bless such a heart. He only bestows his love and his blessing on a good heart.
The second reason for having a good heart is, that it not only wins the favor of God, but of men. However we may fancy that mankind think only of outside appearance, they do in fact think more of internal goodness. Mankind, in all ages and countries, love, respect, and revere the person who has a good heart; the person whose soul is habitually exercised by piety toward God and love toward mankind, is always esteemed and loved in return. Such a person is almost sure to be happy; even if he is destitute of money, he has that which in this world is of more value—the good will, the sympathy, the kind wishes and kind offers of his fellow-men. If a person wishes success in life, therefore, there is no turnpike road to it like a good heart. A man who seeks to extort, to require, to command the good will of the world, will miss his object. A proud person, who would force men to admire him, is resisted; he is looked upon as a kind of robber, who demands what is not his own, and he is usually as much hated as the person who meets you on a by-road at night, and, holding a pistol in your face, demands your purse. The proud person—the person who demands your respect, and tries to force you into good will toward him—turns your feelings against him; but the gentle, the humble, and the kind-hearted, appeal to the breast with a power we cannot resist. The person, therefore, of real power, is the person with a good heart. He wields a sceptre which men would not resist if they could, and could not if they would.
The third reason for having a good heart is, that while the exercise of a bad heart is painful, the exercise of a good heart is blissful. A heart that indulges in envy, malice, anger, revenge, jealousy, covetousness, becomes unhappy and miserable; a heart that exercises piety, love, charity, candor, peace, kindness, gentleness, becomes happy. The exercise of piety and good feelings brings pleasure and enjoyment to the soul, as cool, fresh water does to a thirsty lip; bad feelings bring pain and misery to the soul, as bitter and poisoned water does to the palate and the stomach. A person, therefore, who indulges in bad feelings, is as unwise as one who refuses pure water and drinks poison.
The fourth reason for having a good heart is, that it is the surest way to be handsome! A person with a good heart is almost always good-looking; and for this reason, that the soul shines through the countenance. If the heart is angry, the face is a tell-tale, and shows it. If the heart is exercised with piety, the countenance declares it. Thus the habits of the soul become written on the countenance; what we call the expression of the face is only the story which the face tells about the feelings of the heart. If the heart is habitually exercised by malice, then a malicious expression becomes habitually stamped upon the face. The expression of the countenance is a record which sets forth to the world, the habits, the character of the heart.
I know very well that some persons learn to put a false expression upon their faces: Shakspeare speaks of one who can smile and smile and be a villain still. This false veil, designed to hide a bad heart, is, however, generally too thin to answer its purpose. Mankind usually detect the veil of hypocrisy, and as flies see and shun a spider’s web, so mankind generally remark and avoid the hypocrite’s veil. They know that the spider—the dastardly betrayer—is behind it, ready to make dupes and victims of those whom he can deceive. The only true way, therefore, to have a good face, a truly and permanently handsome face, is to have a good heart, and thus have a good expression. There can be no genuine and abiding beauty without it. Complexion and features are of little consequence. Those whom the world call handsome, have frequently neither regularity of features nor fineness of complexion. It is that indescribable thing called expression—the pleasant story which the countenance tells of the good heart within, that wins favor.
There are many other good reasons for having a good heart; but I have not room to tell them here. I must say a word, however, as to the means of curing a bad heart and getting a good one.
The first thing is, to find out what a good heart is, and what a bad heart is; and the best way to do this, is carefully to read the account given of Jesus Christ in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. There are no pages like these, so full of instruction, and that so readily impart their meaning to the soul of the reader. They give us a portrait of our Savior,—and what a portrait! How humble, yet how majestic! how mild, yet how dignified! how simple, yet how beautiful! He is represented as full of love toward God, and toward mankind; as going about doing good; as having a tender and kind feeling for every human being; as healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, and pouring the music of sound upon the deaf ear. Love to God, which teaches us to love all mankind, evidently fills the heart of Jesus Christ; and his great desire seems to be, that all mankind shall have hearts filled with the same feeling that governs his. A good heart, then, is one like Christ’s; a bad heart is one that is unlike Christ’s. A good heart is one that is habitually exercised by love to God and charity to man; a bad heart is one that is exercised by selfishness, covetousness, anger, revenge, greediness, envy, suspicion, or malice.
Having learned what is meant by a good and bad heart, the next thing is to look into our own breasts and see what kind of a heart we have got. This is of first-rate importance, and therefore it is that I ask the question at the head of this article—“What sort of heart have you got, Reader?”
Having, by careful examination, found out what sort of a heart you have got, then you are prepared to act with good effect. If you find that you have a good heart, a heart like Christ’s, filled with love of God and feelings of obedience to God, and with love and charity to all mankind, evinced by a desire to promote the peace and happiness of all; then be thankful for this best of gifts, and pray Heaven that it may continue to be yours. An immortal spirit, with the principle of goodness in it, is yours—and how great a benediction is that!
But if you discover that you have a bad heart, pray set about curing it as soon as possible. An immortal spirit with a principle of badness in it, is surely a thing to be dreaded; and yet this is your condition, if you have a bad heart. In such a case, repentance is the first step for you to take. Sorrow—sincere sorrow, is the easy condition upon which past errors are forgiven by God; yet this condition must be complied with. There is no forgiveness without repentance, because there is no amendment without it. Repentance implies aversion to sin, and it is because the penitent hates sin, that the record of his wrongs is blotted out. While he loves sin, all his crimes, all his transgressions must stand written down and remembered against him, because he says that he likes them; he vindicates, he approves of them. Oh take good care, kind and gentle reader—take good care to blot out the long account of your errors, before God, speedily! Do not, by still loving sin, say to God that you are willing to have those that you have committed, and those you may commit, brought up in judgment against you! Draw black lines around the record of your transgressions, by repentance!
And having thus begun right, continue to go on right. At first, the task may be difficult. To break in a bad heart to habits of goodness, is like breaking a wild colt to the saddle or harness: it resists; it rears up; it kicks; it spurns the bit; it seeks to run free and loose, as nature and impulse dictate, and as it has been wont to do before. But master it once, and teach it to go in the path, and it will soon be its habit, its pleasure, its easy and chosen way to continue in the path.
To aid you in this process of making a good heart out of a bad one, study the Bible, and especially that which records the life and paints the portrait of Christ. Imitate, humbly, but reverently and devoutly, his example. Drink at the fountain at which he drank, the overflowing river of love to God.
This is the way to keep the spark of goodness in the heart; and to cherish this, to keep it bright, exercise yourself as much as possible in good deeds, in good thoughts, in good feelings. If a bad thought comes into your heart, turn him out—he has now no business there! Turn him out as you would a rat from the larder. Keep your hearts pure before God, for God looketh on the heart!
It is my purpose to follow up this subject hereafter, and to tell you some tales which will show you more clearly how to make a good heart out of a bad one.