Guard Your Heart

Guard your heart!

I don’t think we spend much time thinking about or trying to understand what this phrase means. First of all, did you know that it is a statement made by the man who was gifted wisdom by God, Solomon? “Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life” Proverbs 4:23 CSB. We need to understand that God allowed Solomon to gain some of his wisdom by making mistakes. One of the mistakes Solomon made was for part of his life he did not guard his heart. He allowed it to be drawn away by work, fame, money, fun and women. He learned that all of those things steal your heart and leave you empty. “’Absolute futility,’ says the Teacher (Solomon). ‘Absolute futility. Everything is futile’” Ecclesiastes 1:2 CSB. Maybe we should be wise and learn from his mistakes. Maybe we should heed his warning, “Guard your heart.” If you are going to do that, I guess we should take a moment and determine what that may look like.

Here are a two simple suggestions for guarding your heart. First, be careful what you allow to live in your heart. Philippians helps us with that, “Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable — if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy — dwell on these things” Philippians 4:8 CSB. That is a huge wall of protection around our hearts. Second, be careful who you allow to influence you. 1 Corinthians helps us with this, “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good morals’” 1 Corinthians 15:33 CSB.

Why not take a few minutes and memorize those two verses and allow them to guard your heart? See if that changes anything about the way you interact with others and how you go about living your life each day.

-Pastor Tim