Guard Your Heart

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

- Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)

In many ways, our heart is the command center of our lives. It is the seat of our motives and desires and is a storehouse for our deepest thoughts and beliefs. Yet for something that can move man to accomplish such great (and terrible) things, it is surprisingly easily broken. It is both powerful and vulnerable, persuasive and easily persuaded. Some of us wear it on our sleeves while others hide it away safely behind the walls of seclusion. This tender, breakable organ determines the course of our lives.

So, what has the power to bring brokenness to the heart of man? It’s an important question. What are those things we must we be on our guard against? Words, experiences, bad doctrines, offenses are all things that can bring trouble our hearts. And all of us will, at some time, encounter the pain that these things can bring; but Jesus encourages us, even commands us, to not let our tender hearts be troubled. (John 14:27)

Words have power, not to create, not to force God’s hand to action, but to either wound and tear down or to heal and build up the human heart. (Proverbs 18:21) Doubtless, all of us have experienced words that have brought strength as well as words that have accused, frightened, shaken, and wounded. Their source is diverse; friends, pastors, the news, family, all speak words that have the power to impact our hearts. And certainly, there is no shortage of words in today’s social media charged culture.

Our mind is not only a gateway to our heart, it is also a processor. The mind interprets and processes what we see and hear, drawing a conclusion that is then stored in the warehouse of your heart. If you were to get laid off, the mind gets to work to understand the why and what of that. For some of us a layoff may be translated and stored in our hearts as, “Your security is always one step away from being pulled out from under your feet.” For others it may be understood differently. Either way, the heart remembers what the mind forgets.

Bad doctrine hurts people’s faith. It wounds tender hearts, bringing a darkness that can stick around for a long time. All of us are in a constant state of growth in our understanding of the Word of God, yet there are harmful doctrines, winds of falsity, that can bring great damage by handing us gross misunderstandings of God’s word. Legalism and the Prosperity Gospel (name it and claim it), are two examples of doctrinal belief systems that have carried harmful teachings into the hearts of God's people. 

None of us are immune to the wounds inflicted on us by others, just as none of us are without fault in how we've treated others. Offenses are taken and offenses are given. It’s part of the broken world that we live in. The great danger of offense is that bitterness can take hold in the offended heart - and spread. Pray for the offender, petition for the wounder of your heart. Doing so will move you from judgement to compassion, from distaste to sympathy.

There is hope for the heart's healing and we can pray as Jeremiah prayed,

“Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise.”

- Jeremiah 17:14 (ESV)

It is God who brings healing to the heart, and not only healing, but protection as well.

This is good news that we can embrace. The gateway, the processor, our mind, needs renewing constantly, daily, and that is a work of the Holy Spirit. Through prayer and through his word correctly understood, our minds become better informed and receive the training they need to pass healthy truths to our hearts.

Scripture References

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

- 1 Peter 5:7 (NIV)

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

- Philippians 4:6 (NIV)

When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.

- Psalm 94:19 (NIV)

Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit 

- Proverbs 18:21 (BSB) 

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. 

- Psalms 147:3 (ESV)

Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. 

- John 14:27 (NIV)

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

- Romans 12:2 (NIV)

He restores my soul.

- Psalm 23:3 (ESV)

who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

- 1 Peter 1:5 (NIV)

so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

- Ephesians 4:11