Influence of a Guarded Heart

I will guard my heart by considering what I expose myself to each day.

Verse

Proverbs 4:23 NIV

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

 

Lord, I pray that you will show us what it means to guard our hearts since everything we do flows from it. 
Enable us to recognize the potential for heart damage that can happen when we expose ourselves to situations and circumstances that are damaging to our soul.
Help us see the impact of what plays on repeat on our screens and in our ears. 
Lord, give us a sensitivity to the Holy Spirit’s leading and a quickness to heed any conviction you provide for our protection. 
In the Strong Name of Jesus, Amen.

I will guard my heart by considering what I expose myself to each day.

Guard your heart. 

Because everything flows from it. 

Could it be any simpler of an instruction from the Lord? We’ve got to watch what goes in, because that’s what will come out. We bump into this principle not only in the Old Testament but also in the New Testament:

For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.
A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

So what are we storing up in our hearts? Is it pain and hurt? Is it unforgiveness that desperately needs His healing work?

What are we exposing ourselves to every day? Especially on our screens. Oh yes, it affects the heart.

What are we watching and listening to on repeat? What are the undertones and overtones coming through . . . in music and podcasts, TV and Netflix, movies and YouTube?

What are we hearing from those we’re in relationship with? Those we work with? Is it affirming the Word of God or a group-think culture steeped in criticism, negativity, and the ways of this world? Oh, I know these questions can make us squirm, as they trigger a sense of legalism and fear of isolation.

Wouldn’t you agree that the minute we start judging what is right for ourselves, we find ourselves tempted to make policies, rules, and procedures for everyone else?

At the heart of it, we don’t want to miss out on something everyone else seems to be enjoying . . . or at least participating in. We don’t want to be noticed for being different. We don’t want to be judged or criticized, questioned or ostracized. Right?

But when we refuse to evaluate what’s going into our hearts, we’re also refusing to recognize the impact of what is coming out of us. And what’s coming out of us is what shapes our testimony, our influence, our legacy.

If our ultimate goal is to glorify God, then being intentional about what we allow to fill our hearts really becomes about submitting to how God wants to use us in this world.

Isn’t that an interesting thought? A simple instruction about guarding our hearts, which appears to be just about us, isn’t about us at all.

When you think about this instruction to guard your heart, because of the impact of what will flow from it, what comes to mind? What is one thing you ought to shield your heart from?


 

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