Have you heard Taylor Swift’s new song, “Blank Space”? I came across it on my newsfeed today, and I have to say, even 1 minute into the song it made me so sad–sad for our society, sad for the lessons we are teaching our young women, sad for what we now think is acceptable.
Here are some of the lyrics from her song:
Saw you there and I thought oh my god
Look at that face, you look like my next mistake
Love’s a game, wanna play…Cause we’re young and we’re reckless
We’ll take this way too far
It’ll leave you breathless
Or with a nasty scar
Got a long list of ex-lovers
They’ll tell you I’m insane
But I got a blank space baby
And I’ll write your name
I’m sorry, but when did this become okay? Since when are hearts and love something to play with? Since when do we look for our “next mistake” like giving parts of ourselves to other people is no big deal?
Our hearts are precious. They are so valuable. They are not something to be toyed with or something to just throw away to anyone who walks by.
According to Proverbs 4:23, Solomon advises us, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (NIV). Above all else! Not as an after thought, not as a yeah-it-might-be-good-if-you-did-it kind of thing! Above anything else, he instructs us to guard our hearts! They are so valuable and everything we say and do and think comes from what is inside our hearts! When we throw our hearts away to any passerby, we begin to view ourselves as worthless, whether on a conscious or subconscious level. When we break our hearts with each “mistake”, we find ourselves broken, and everything we do and think stems from that brokenness.
Why not instead take care of our hearts? Guard them, as Solomon says? Why not teach ourselves, our sisters, our daughters, that our hearts are so precious, so valuable, instead of teaching them that their hearts are worthless and nothing more than a play-thing?
Normally I am a Taylor Swift fan, without any shame in admitting it, but today? Today I found myself unbelievably disappointed and disturbed by the message she is sharing with the girls and young women of the world.
Let us use our words and our influence over others to lift them up and help make them whole instead of breaking them down and telling them they have no value.
the art of royalty 