Let Your Heart
Whenever I hear the word “Let,” it reminds me that there’s a natural course—something that’s already moving in the right direction unless it’s being resisted.
“Let go” implies I’m still holding on. I’m blocking progress. I’m denying forward motion.
As men, it can be a struggle to approach our hearts, let alone allow them to move freely toward passion, love, peace, or hope. Pride, embarrassment, awkwardness, and stubbornness often become the gatekeepers—masters of our emotions and the movement of our hearts, especially toward our wives and families.
After several years of marriage, I’ve noticed that my heart often takes a backseat. Logic and responsibility tend to lead. My understanding, my sense of duty, my experiences with hurt or disappointment—all of it begins to dictate how my heart operates. But is that how it’s supposed to be?
How’s your heart today?
Pause for a second.
Now read this:
“Let the inner movement of your heart always be to love one another, and never play the role of an actor wearing a mask. Despise evil and embrace everything that is good and virtuous. Be devoted to tenderly loving your fellow believers as members of one family. Try to outdo yourselves in respect and honor of one another.”
Romans 12:9-10 (TPT)
Let.
We’re told to let our hearts move in love. That implies the default is love.
It suggests that when our hearts aren’t constrained, they move naturally toward what’s good, what’s right, what’s loving.
If we’ve given our hearts to God, then the natural flow of our hearts is healthy. The command to “let” simply means this:
We may be stopping something beautiful from happening.
Let Me Be Honest
There are times when my heart is overwhelmed—absolutely full of love, pride, and deep affection for my kids, for my wife. Moments where I’m caught in a trance, my heart rising up into my thoughts, emotions bubbling up to the surface. And I feel it all…
The need to say something. To do something. To lavish love on the people my life is bound to.
And yet I sit there.
My heart screams.
My mind hesitates.
Embarrassment plugs the filter.
And I say… nothing. Not a word.
Looking back, I get frustrated with myself. I see missed opportunities to just love—freely, openly, passionately.
Over time, those missed moments become shame.
That shame whispers, “You’ve missed it again.”
And slowly, a wall builds.
The mask goes back on.
My feelings sink deeper. I don’t want to agitate them again—because what if they break out?
But What If…
What if I just let it all out?
What if I let the tears flow?
What if I let the praise for my wife and kids pour out—unfettered, unfiltered, pure passion, full of the raw, manly resolve of love?
What if the act—the polished version of the “ideal man”—was dashed to pieces by an untamed, extravagant, holy kind of love?
What if I spun my little boy or teenage daughter in circles with tears streaming down my face for the whole world to see?
What if I didn’t care who saw—on social media, at work, or among my “manly” friends?
What if I took the woman I vowed to cherish, reached for her hand, and led her to her favorite appetizer platter and show—while she hears dishes clattering in the kitchen being done?
No money. No energy. No spark. No answers.
Just love.
In the dark.
In the pit of a pandemic.
Could I place the mask at her feet?
Could I set down the mask that guards my heart from my children—the one that protects me from embarrassment or shame—and just let my heart… be?
Could you?
It’s a question worth asking.
And maybe it’s time to take the risk to answer it.
Just let your heart.
By Gabe Voorhees