Heart is central. "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life" (Prov. 4:23)

Heart of Woman.  God created you as a woman. Whatever it means to bear God's image, you do as a woman. Female. That’s how and where you bear his image.  Your feminine heart has been created with the greatest of all possible dignities—as a reflection of God’s own heart.  You are a woman to your soul, to the very core of your being. And so the journey to discover what God meant when he created woman in his image—when he created you as a woman—that journey begins with your heart.

Every woman in her heart of hearts longs for three things: to be romanced, to play an irreplaceable role in a great adventure, and to unveil beauty.  That’s what makes a woman come alive.

I simply loved feeling wanted and fought for… To be desired, to be pursued by the one who loves you, to be someone’s priority… At some core place, maybe deep within, perhaps hidden or buried in her heart, every woman wants to be seen, wanted, and pursued.  We want to be romanced.

In the depths of my soul, I longed to be a part of something large and good; something that required all of me; something dangerous and worth dying for… There is something fierce in the heart of a woman… A woman is a warrior too.  But she is meant to be a warrior in a uniquely feminine way… passionate and powerful who is beautiful as a warrior.

Women wanted not only to be needed, but to be irreplaceable… Women love adventures of all sorts—adventures that are shared. We do not want the adventure merely for adventure’s sake but for what it requires of us for others. We don’t want to be alone in it; we want to be in it with others.

Our lives were meant to be lived with others. As echoes of Trinity, we remember something. Made in the image of a perfect relationship, we are relational to the core of our beings and filled with a desire for transcendent purpose. We long to be an irreplaceable part of a shared adventure.

God has set eternity in our hearts.  The longing to be beautiful is set there as well…Women, at least for a few hours at night, take the risk of revealing their beauty…beauty that is unveiled… And it’s not just the desire for an outward beauty, but more—a desire to be captivating in the depths of who you are.

Heart of Man.  Every man wants a battle to fight.  Men long for adventure.  And every man longs for a Beauty to rescue.  He needs someone to fight for.  There is nothing that inspires a man to courage so much as the woman he loves… There is that deeper longing to fight for the Beauty.  This is not to say that a woman is a “helpless creature” who can’t live her life without a man.  It’s just men long to offer their strength on behalf of a woman.

Now—see how the desires of a man’s heart and the desires of a woman’s heart were at least meant to fit beautifully together.  A woman in the presence of a good man, a real man, loves being a woman. His strength allows her feminine heart to flourish.  His pursuit draws out her beauty.  And a man in the presence of a real woman loves being a man. Her beauty arouses him to play the man, it draws out his strength.  She inspires him to be a hero.

Man or woman—your heart is there, crying out to be set free, to find life your desires tell you of.  And to all women, discover what God had in mind when he made Eve…and when he made you.  Glorious, powerful, captivating.

*From John and Stasi Eldredge's CAPTIVATING.