I feel like every Christian has that one favorite Bible verse that they love and absolutely love to repeat. For many, it’s Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things…”. For some it may be “for God so loved the world…”. But for me, it has to be a line that is repeated a few times in the Bible, and it is the phrase, “take heart”.

The simple phrase is said in Psalms, Matthew, and John, but it seems to be a theme throughout the whole Bible. Anytime I see it, the words seem to jump right off the page and come to life. I’ve always really wondered why it means so much to me and I think I’ve figured out why. Let’s talk about it.

Why This Verse?

I think the reason this verse struck me so much was because of 2 Corinthians 4. This chapter changed the game for me, and it has my favorite verse, that gave me so much revelation.

“So, we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

This verse still hits me to this day. It really shows a very powerful truth. There are things that are bigger than what we can really think. Oftentimes, I think we find ourselves going through really awful times, though those awful times can really prepare for us something great.

The main premise of this verse is this. Because our temporary problems are really preparing for us something great and eternal, we do not lose heart. That’s a very simple, easy to understand truth, but we typically find ourselves forgetting it or ignoring it. Whether it’s because we think our lives are too hard, there’s no reward, or whatever else it is, we never fail to forget it. If we can leave all our doubts on the table, and really take the encouragement of this concept, amazing things will happen.

Paul’s Light Momentary Afflictions

The biggest thing that has held me back is thinking that people don’t understand what I’m going through and such. The same thing happened to me with this verse, at first. I thought “God has no clue what I’m going through, he never dealt with this”. Yes, I really thought this. Jesus definitely went through much more than I have ever gone through. In fact, even Paul, the man who wrote much of the New Testament and this verse, went through much more.

Paul’s list of light momentary afflictions includes being imprisoned, beaten and whipped, shipwrecked, and even more. He was imprisoned many times and had many hardships throughout his time in ministry. He eventually died a martyr but only after ministering for many years.

Through his many hardships, Paul definitely did not lose heart. His many imprisonments and beatings did not stop him from accomplishing his mission. If Paul is calling prison and pain light momentary afflictions, then it is safe to safe that most of what we deal with is not impossible to overcome either.

We also can be comforted by this. Paul’s long ministry journey with his many hardships didn’t happen in vain. Paul, inspired by God, wrote much of the New Testament and in doing so has impacted generation to generation. Of course, it is only through God that that was done, but looking at how much the New Testament, with chapters like Romans and Hebrews, has affected my life, I’m certain his hardships were worth it.

Countries Are Built with Heart

In 1783, the United States prevailed against one of the greatest military powers in the world. They had done the seemingly impossible and truly won their independence from the British. While there are many reasons why the United States won including France’s support and a home advantage, it seems that the biggest factor in the United States win was the leadership and heart.

The United States troops were led by George Washington. He was a noble man and there are many records of his courage and bravery. On multiple occasions, Washington saved his troops from a loss, which increased morale and kept the volunteer army going. His passion and heart as the leader spread to his troops and gave them the drive that they needed to keep fighting.

Throughout the war, the troops faced many hardships. They were a volunteer army, so they lacked many of the necessary supplies, food, and money needed to survive. They were on an uphill climb for much of the war, going against a global superpower, and faced rough weather conditions.

The only thing that kept the volunteer soldiers going was the heart and passion they had. They understood that they were fighting for something much bigger than themselves. Something that would have an effect on the entire world. They pushed past their current troubles, because they were fighting for something.

The Real Relationship with Our Heart

Have you ever wondered why our hearts are so commonly associated with love? For Valentine’s Day, couples get each other boxes of chocolate in the shape of a heart. Cupid has heart shaped arrows. The heart is essentially the symbol is love in today’s culture. The brain, though, is really the one that thinks and helps us with our emotions and such. Our heart just pumps blood, right?

While that’s true, studies have begun to show that there may actually be a connection between the two. According to a study shown on HuffPost, the brain actually causes “hormones” to be released to the heart (Why Do We Associate Love With The Heart? | HuffPost Life). This means that the times we feel it in our chest when we meet our crush, or experience a heartbreak, there is actually a connection.

Our brains can actually cause our hearts to have some sort of a reaction to life’s situations. I believe this to be true in relation to “take heart” as well. There have been instances where the heart fails because of a “heart break”. Or a heart flutter because one falls in love. When we have the passion to keep going, our heart stays strong. We have exactly what we need to keep moving.

The Tortoise and the Heart

Almost everyone knows the story of the Tortoise and the Hare. The tortoise and the hare race and the hare gets a quick lead, though he eventually just lays down somewhere. Because the hare is just laying around, the tortoise is able to get ahead and win the rest.

Most people believe the moral of the story is that slow and steady wins the race, and that is how I viewed it too. Now, though, I focus on one very crucial aspect of the win, and that is that the tortoise had heart. He saw that the hare was very far ahead of him, and he could’ve decided to just give up. That seems to be what most of us would do.

He was very doubted; people would never believe that a tortoise could beat a hare in a race. He fought hard, having to push through the whole race. Above all circumstances, the tortoise prevailed and beat his much greater opponent. The tortoise had heart.

Look at Our Hearts

We really have to look at our hearts in this life. Where are our hearts at? Some of us have heart, and some of us don’t but that does not necessarily mean we won’t ever have heart.

If you look at the example situations above, you can see that they all had a couple things in common.

They Fought for Something Bigger

Paul fought for the Church. He had a great heart for the Lord and his people and wanted to see the good news get spread as much as possible. We can see how much of an effect that truly had on all of our lives, as his letters became much of the New Testament.

The Founding Fathers fought for freedom, and for a country they would get to build. They knew that a great nation could be made, and that it was worth all the blood, sweat, and tears. The nation that they made became a staple for freedom, and many countries followed in its footsteps.

When it comes to love and our heart, we are always quick to fight for it. Our hearts should be something we fight to protect and with them, we can always keep moving.

And the tortoise fought for a great victory. He had the heart keep moving and he eventually got exactly what he fought for.

They Faced Afflictions

In every situation, there were many trials and afflictions placed on them. Whether it be beatings, terrible circumstances, heartbreak, or doubters and pain, we all have afflictions.

Let’s look at the verse we’ve been talking about again.

“So, we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

It’s so important to see this detail. While our afflictions are difficult and brutal, always try to see that you are continuously being renewed, whether we feel like it or not. We know the word is true, so it must be true, we just have to receive it.

Practical Application

With this topic, it may be a bit hard to be practical but there will definitely be application we can all take from this.

• Find something to truly have heart for. A mission, a passion, something that you can really pursue. For me, it is my relationship with the Lord. Fortunately, I’m not in any position to strive for it, because the Lord makes himself available, but I will pursue the Lord for the rest of my life, no matter what.

• Remind yourself of that mission when the afflictions come. In almost everything, there will be difficulties. You will face trials; it’s just how life works it seems. However, in those trials you can remind yourself and what you’re really fighting for, and it will really give you the heart to push through.

• Let the Lord renew you. Whatever you ask for, with the Lord you will receive (Matthew 21:22). So if you are feeling in need of some renewing, ask for it!

Final Thoughts

In life, we have so many challenges and it is very important to remember that we are all fighting for something bigger. While we may not understand it at the time or can’t see the end, it is so important to take heart and keep moving.

Something I’ve observed is that those that face afflictions, especially in their Christian walk, are moving in the right direction. I like to imagine moving against the crowd, in the other direction. We’ll often bump into people, get shoved around, but we have a different focus, and we need to let that be what we are aiming and fighting for. I believe that as we move on and face challenges, this quote could be some encouragement to you.

“If you never bump into the devil, it’s because you’re going in the same direction” – Andrew Wommack