Guard Your Heart
Scripture: Proverbs 4:20-27 - My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. 21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. 22 For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. 23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. 24 Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. 25 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. 26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. 27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.
Proverbs 4:23 is not talking about our physical heart/material heart, which is the organ located in the chest between the lungs and slightly to the left consisting of four chambers – the right atrium, the right ventricle, the left atrium, and the left ventricle. Proverbs 4:23 is referring to our immaterial heart – our inner most being. The phrase “guard your heart” is often misunderstood in the Bible. Have you ever thought that “guard your heart” meant protect your heart from getting hurt in relationships? I thought that was what it meant previously. Of course, we have to use wisdom in how we allow ourselves to be vulnerable with someone in a relationship. When you care about someone, you will always open yourself up to the possibility of being hurt. From the Bible, “guard your heart” has to do with protecting your heart (your inner most being) from sin at all costs. It deals with boundaries from God to us. Whenever you choose to love someone like Christ loves you (which is unconditionally), there will be risks. (Matthews 22:37 says Jesus said unto him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all you soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. Matthews 22:39 says And the second is like unto it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.) The heart of this verse is to ”guard our hearts” so that what flows out of our hearts is love for God and others – not hatred or evil toward others.
Oher key things I am learning about ”guarding our hearts” are:
• We must guard our hearts and apply the truths and instructions from the Bible. They drastically change our lives (John 3:16, II Timothy 3:16, Hebrews 4:12).
• When our hearts are saturated with His truths and love, His love will flow from our hearts – through the Holy Spirit illuminating scriptures. (On the other hand, if we have lies/foolishness in our hearts, our lives will be sinful (Psalms 14:1). (Jeremiah 17:9 says The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? )
• As Christians, we must have God’s word in our hearts so that we can live lives that are glorifying/pleasing to the Lord.
In Proverbs 4:24, we are warned about guarding our speech. In Proverbs 4:25, we are warned to guard our eyes. In Proverbs 4:26, we are warned to use our minds wisely. In Proverbs 4:27, we are told to stay away from evil. All of these warnings stem from Proverbs 4:23 where we are told to “guard our hearts”.
The chorus of a song that I love by Babbie Mason entitled With All My Heart says: With all my heart I want to love You Lord, and live my life each day to know You more. All that is in me is Yours completely. I’ll serve You only with all my heart.
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father: Please help us to “guard our hearts” with all diligence. We want to live a life that is well pleasing to You. Thank you for the boundaries, instructions, warnings from Your Word. Help us to read Your word daily, and by the power of the Holy Spirit I pray that we will yield and apply Your word in our lives.
(by Marsha Williams)
Proverbs 4:23 is not talking about our physical heart/material heart, which is the organ located in the chest between the lungs and slightly to the left consisting of four chambers – the right atrium, the right ventricle, the left atrium, and the left ventricle. Proverbs 4:23 is referring to our immaterial heart – our inner most being. The phrase “guard your heart” is often misunderstood in the Bible. Have you ever thought that “guard your heart” meant protect your heart from getting hurt in relationships? I thought that was what it meant previously. Of course, we have to use wisdom in how we allow ourselves to be vulnerable with someone in a relationship. When you care about someone, you will always open yourself up to the possibility of being hurt. From the Bible, “guard your heart” has to do with protecting your heart (your inner most being) from sin at all costs. It deals with boundaries from God to us. Whenever you choose to love someone like Christ loves you (which is unconditionally), there will be risks. (Matthews 22:37 says Jesus said unto him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all you soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. Matthews 22:39 says And the second is like unto it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.) The heart of this verse is to ”guard our hearts” so that what flows out of our hearts is love for God and others – not hatred or evil toward others.
Oher key things I am learning about ”guarding our hearts” are:
• We must guard our hearts and apply the truths and instructions from the Bible. They drastically change our lives (John 3:16, II Timothy 3:16, Hebrews 4:12).
• When our hearts are saturated with His truths and love, His love will flow from our hearts – through the Holy Spirit illuminating scriptures. (On the other hand, if we have lies/foolishness in our hearts, our lives will be sinful (Psalms 14:1). (Jeremiah 17:9 says The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? )
• As Christians, we must have God’s word in our hearts so that we can live lives that are glorifying/pleasing to the Lord.
In Proverbs 4:24, we are warned about guarding our speech. In Proverbs 4:25, we are warned to guard our eyes. In Proverbs 4:26, we are warned to use our minds wisely. In Proverbs 4:27, we are told to stay away from evil. All of these warnings stem from Proverbs 4:23 where we are told to “guard our hearts”.
The chorus of a song that I love by Babbie Mason entitled With All My Heart says: With all my heart I want to love You Lord, and live my life each day to know You more. All that is in me is Yours completely. I’ll serve You only with all my heart.
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father: Please help us to “guard our hearts” with all diligence. We want to live a life that is well pleasing to You. Thank you for the boundaries, instructions, warnings from Your Word. Help us to read Your word daily, and by the power of the Holy Spirit I pray that we will yield and apply Your word in our lives.
(by Marsha Williams)
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