"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it" -- Proverbs 4:23 [NIV]
This scripture has been surfacing in my life for the past couple of months. It's become one of my favorite scriptures and also one that I have spent great time meditating on and using as a reference in prayer. Last night, the scripture appeared on an Instagram post that I reposted from another user, then it happened to be in a book that I was reading before bed. I figured it was confirmation that God wanted my attention and focus on it even more so I decided to blog about it.
Although it's become a favorite, I must admit I haven't always been 100% sure what it really meant. Like what does it really mean to guard your heart? And who/what are you guarding it from!? When I think of guard, naturally, I think of this....
meet the token "guard dog" LOL
And then I've considered that maybe a guarded heart looks a little bit like this...
But then I thought about where this scripture is coming from and it's from God. None of these images reflect God in my opinion. Being calloused and vicious or keeping your heart protected by something so that it's almost impossible to let anything or anyone in can't be what this is all about.
The last piece of the scripture says "...for everything you do flows from it". How true is this!? The heart is such a tender yet amazing organ. Without it, we clearly are dead from an anatomical point of view. But from a emotional side, how we feel, what we do, our motives, etc. all come from our heart as well.
A friend of mine shared this blog post that another blogger wrote on the topic. After reading her point of view, I gained a different perspective. I had never thought about it like this. She basically relates guarding your heart from Satan. To keep him from getting into your heart by using people, emotions, and situations to gain access. I like this perspective that we must guard ourselves from tricky Satan.
I admit that ever since the first time I saw this scripture, I thought about guarding your heart in a romantic relationship (there goes the lover in me). Then as I continued to see the scripture used in different contexts, I realized that it's not just in romantic relationships, but with any relationship with others. We must take hold of our emotions, gain control, and be very careful yet prayerful especially when emotions are high.
Be open, but be smart when you're dealing with others. Mainly, I took it to mean that I should stay connected to God and look to Him to guide and lead me in every situation. Ask Him for His help before you take matters into your own hands and act out of emotion or impulsively. I think we've all acted out of emotion and later regretted our emotional decision once we had a chance to calm down or get back to a neutral state of mind.
And speaking of your mind, these other translations of the verse translate directly to pertaining to the mind. The Common English Bible (CEB) translation says "more than anything you guard, protect your mind, for life flows from it" . And finally The Good News Translation (GNT) says "be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts". Sometimes our thoughts can run wild and it almost feels as if we can't control the things that come into our mind. I know I have struggled with my thoughts and had to quickly try to turn negative thoughts into more positive ones.
Be careful what you're putting into your mind. Fill your mind with things that encourage you instead of discourage you. Be careful who you take advice from and who you share things with. It's so natural for us to turn to friends, family, coworkers, acquaintances, etc. when we're going through things especially if we think they will understand what we're going through because they have once been there. Turning to God is really all we need! His advice is what's best for our lives! With Him, we can't go wrong!
What does this scripture mean to you?
I love this scripture and like most scripture I love how I can relate it to different areas of my life. There have been several instances in my life where because of being led by the spirit I cut things out of my life. When you let certain things into your heart and your mind it really does affect you. I've found myself thinking, saying, and believing things that I know aren't true because of a song, show, or blog I read. I like to think that I am impressionable but negativity has a way of seeping in and sticking, more so than positive things. When I was pregnant, I cut out all things that I felt had negative influences on my life in order to protect my unborn child. As a result I was uplifted and maintained positive thoughts. God provides us with what we need but some reason we always feel the need to supplement it with things that may not be "pure". Those are just my thoughts. THanks for posting this!
ReplyDeleteI agree, Jac! Since I wrote this post, I have really been thinking more about what it means to guard your heart! You must protect what you let into your mind, the opinions you take in, etc. People and outside influences can be so negative and can really tear you down. It's hard to stay strong when it's a constant thing, which further means we must be sure to pay close attention to what we're taking in.
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