The Bible in Proverbs 4: 23 says the following: “ Keep your heart above all else, for out of it are the fountains of life.”
Solomon (the author) when exhorting “guard your heart” is referring to the essence of a person, where your thoughts, feelings, and choices begin.
In the text of Luke 6:45, the Lord Jesus says: “…out of the abundance of thy heart the mouth speaks”, this means that the heart literally is the source of everything!
The truth is that our thoughts and speech often dictate who we are because the mind of a man or woman reflects who they really are.
This is precisely why the Lord God, first of all, examines our hearts, because He knows their depths and knows that all desires and attitudes come from there ( 1 Samuel 16: 7 ).
So, let’s look at Guarding Our Heart in three brief topics based on this verse.
- What does it mean to Guard your Heart?
- Why should I Guard the Heart?
- How to Guard the Heart?
What does it mean to Guard your Heart?
Imagine that planet earth is completely without light… Let’s imagine that the whole world has no light, no light. Everyone lives in total darkness.
However, there is a person who has a lamp. This person had kept this lamp for a long time because he would have known that dark days would come.
Now, let’s imagine this person walking through the streets with his lamp in his hands, lighting up everything, invading the darkness.
Everyone around you will either want to turn off that person’s light in anger that only she has a lamp or will want to steal her lamp.
The person in the illustration above represents us Christians; Darkness and gloom represent sin; And the lamp is our heart.
Therefore, guarding your heart means keeping yourself out of darkness and sin, even though you are attacked all the time by people who still have their hearts in the darkness.
Why should I Guard the Heart?
Well, that’s a matter of wisdom. The Bible says that without holiness no one will inherit the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, if we guard our hearts, we are already guarding our holiness.
Guarding the heart is very important. When we don’t guard our hearts, we are led by sin and deceit. But a firm and protected heart is pure and avoids evil!
As it is recorded in the book of Proverbs 4: 23, we must guard our heart because the issues of life come from it, that is, what keeps us alive.
Because if your heart stops now, you die. So it is with our spiritual heart, so guard and keep it away from sin, impure things, and everything that can stain it.
How to Guard the Heart?
Simple, if you want to guard your heart, don’t let sin get into it. It won’t be easy, but you have to resist the world.
This “joy” that we see in the world today is fleeting: Drugs, drinks, prostitution, and bad friendships. All this you must keep away from!
We Christians are not like the people of the world who do whatever they want. We have a God who watches us and we need to be fearful of Him, we need to be the light of this world.
Now let’s see some practical advice for Guarding Your Heart:
Guard your heart through the Word of God
Beloved, what about believers fighting “the evil of this world” and trying to keep their hearts in the strength of their own arms is no joke.
As a result, we see frustration, depression and the list goes on and on… I want to make an appeal to you to understand once and for all that without the Word of God, it is impossible to guard our hearts!
It’s not in the strength of your arm, it’s not in the height of your scream, and not even in your willpower… It’s in the strength of your God!
That’s why I exhort you to put yourself in your place: which is at the foot of the cross! Pray that the Holy Spirit will help you fulfill this task (which is impossible to fulfill humanly) of guarding your heart.
We know that back in the Old Testament Egypt was hit by one calamity after another, and yet Pharaoh refused to release the Israelites from their bondage.
Pharaoh’s hard heart resulted in him taking a stand against Almighty God (Exodus 7:22; 8:32; 9:34) . There he had enough fighting strength, but he did not have the primordial thing: the Word of God.
In Psalm 95: 7-8, King David insisted on leaving a word to the people so that they would not harden their hearts in rebellion against the Lord, as their ancestors did in the desert.
I dare by the Holy Spirit to assure you that in this day and age, having a life of daily and constant contact with the word of God and submitting yourself in obedience to the teaching of the Scriptures is the best way to protect yourself against rebellion against God.
Guarding the Heart through God’s Grace
Christians are instructed not to grumble, murmur and complain several times in Holy Scripture. These attitudes come from a heart embittered with the Lord.
For those who engage in such behavior shift their focus from God’s plans, purposes, and work in their lives to the things of the world.
From God’s point of view, such behavior lacks genuine faith, and without faith, it is impossible to please God ( Hebrews 11:6 ).
Instead of grumbling, murmuring, and complaining, believers should strive for contentment in every phase of life, trusting the Lord to provide all things in His time ( Hebrews 13:5 ).
To guard hearts, as well as against the spirit of complaining, we need to cultivate the gratitude that continually flows from the finished and sufficient work of the Lord Jesus.
Protect your heart!
Guarding your heart is much more than protecting yourself from bad things. It also means taking care of what’s good.
Your heart will be stronger and safer if you fill it with God’s word, gratitude, good thoughts, and wishes (Philippians 4:6-8).
Anyway, cultivate what’s good and your heart will be well guarded!