I don’t think we need to fight for the hearts of men only, but of everyone. As a husband and dad, I’m learning this firsthand. It’s my job to redeem and heal and set free the hearts of my wife and children. Everything else I do must take a back seat. If you go to another asking for help and they ignore you, or mislead you, or it just seems like they aren’t fighting for your heart, maybe they don’t have the answers you were looking for and are trying to help you by pointing you to some other person or place that might have the answers (a counselor), or maybe they simply didn’t care to answer your questions, but that doesn’t mean that YOU should stop fighting for the hearts of OTHERS. (I don’t think anyone close to me fights for my heart, but I still need to fight for theirs. I do get some encouragement from friends I’ve met in online communities, and a stray compliment once in a while from a stranger about my music… but that’s only the beginning of what Jesus had in mind. We don’t love each other nearly enough.)
"The LORD is CLOSE to the brokenhearted and SAVES those who are crushed in spirit." ~PS 34:18
“He HEALS the brokenhearted and BINDS UP their wounds.” ~PS 147:3
“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to PREACH GOOD NEWS to the poor. He has sent me to BIND UP the brokenhearted, to PROCLAIM FREEDOM for the captives and RELEASE FROM DARKNESS for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion–to BESTOW ON THEM A CROWN OF BEAUTY instead of ashes, the OIL OF GLADNESS instead of mourning, and a GARMENT OF PRAISE instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.” ~ISA 61:1-4
“Therefore Jesus said again, ‘I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that THEY may have life, and have it to the full.’” ~John 10:7-10.
Jesus came here to give OTHERS life. He wasn’t as concerned with others giving Him life. He got His life and value from God. We should follow His example. And this is what I need to do, how I need to love-(fight for the hearts of) my wife and kids by HEALING them, SAVING them, BINDING UP their wounds, PREACHING to them the GOOD NEWS, PROCLAIM FREEDOM to them – that they are free! I should then RELEASE them from all the darkness in their life, fighting to clean out – clear out every cobweb from every musty corner of their existence – and open the doors and windows of their souls letting the light into every corner so that no darkness is left in their lives. Then I must BESTOW on them CROWNS OF BEAUTY, OILS OF GLADNESS, and GARMENTS OF PRAISE. That is my full-time job, duty, honor, and privilege. That is what God the Dad is trying to do for me through Jesus, if I let Him. I believe this should be all of our jobs on earth, to lift each other up, not to bring each other down. But sin plays a role in this and we get tired and we can’t always remember to put others first, especially when we’re down.
Let me put it another way: Who gave Jesus life? Who ever fought for His heart? Only in His darkest most desperate hour did He even ask His closest friends, the disciples, to stay awake and pray with Him in the garden. And they still didn’t fight for His Heart. They still didn’t love Him enough. They didn’t take the burden off Him, they didn’t free Him by saying, You know what Jesus, I got this. Take a break, I’ll pray and take care of everything. You relax. I got your back now. I have wanted someone to say that to me for so long… but maybe I’m expecting too much from people, expecting the wrong thing, or expecting it from everyone but God. Somehow, God needs to fill that need in my heart. This is a need that obviously only He can or even wants to fill, because no one down here seems to want to fight for me. My earthly father certainly didn’t want to. Many of the people closest to me growing up didn’t want to, didn’t know how, and just didn’t care enough to learn how, or take the time to find out. So why should we expect strangers to do that for us? I don’t think any of us are called to be the recipients of the ‘heart fighting’ from other people – God sent Jesus here to do that for us. I believe we are only called to fight for the hearts of others. And we need to fight for our own hearts as well. (But if we’re waiting for others to love us and fight for us in this world, we may have a long wait.)