Skip to main content

What it means to "Guard Your Heart"

Image via unsplash.com
You may be wondering what this whole "Guarding your heart" thing is all about and why it is important, so let me explain. The concept of guarding our hearts comes from Proverbs 4:23 "Above all else guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life". This excerpt from Matthew Henry's Commentary explains the meaning of this verse really well... 

"II. We must keep a watchful eye and a strict hand upon all the motions of our inward man, Prov. 4:23. Here is, 1. A great duty required by the laws of wisdom, and in order to our getting and preserving wisdom: Keep thy heart with all diligence. God, who gave us these souls, gave us a strict charge with them: Man, woman, keep thy heart; take heed to thy spirit, Deut. 4:9. We must maintain a holy jealousy of ourselves, and set a strict guard, accordingly, upon all the avenues of the soul; keep our hearts from doing hurt and getting hurt, from being defiled by sin and disturbed by trouble; keep them as our jewel, as our vineyard; keep a conscience void of offence; keep out bad thoughts; keep up good thoughts; keep the affections upon right objects and in due bounds. Keep them with all keepings (so the word is); there are many ways of keeping things—by care, by strength, by calling in help, and we must use them all in keeping our hearts; and all little enough, so deceitful are they, Jer. 17:9. Or above all keepings; we must keep our hearts with more care and diligence than we keep any thing else. We must keep our eyes (Job 31:1), keep our tongues (Ps. 34:13), keep our feet (Eccl. 5:1), but, above all, keep our hearts. 2. A good reason given for this care, because out of it are the issues of life. Out of a heart well kept will flow living issues, good products, to the glory of God and the edification of others. Or, in general, all the actions of the life flow from the heart, and therefore keeping that is making the tree good and healing the springs. Our lives will be regular or irregular, comfortable or uncomfortable, according as our hearts are kept or neglected."

So you see, guarding our hearts is about turning away from evil and temptation. It's also about being cautious of what we consume and who we let into our hearts. Our hearts are beautiful and precious and because they are so, we need to protect them from damage to keep them well. Like a collector who keeps the most precious items in the safest places and treats them with the upmost care so that they last long, stay pristine, and free from damage. Guarding our hearts means guarding our minds, eyes, and ears too. 

Sisters, it is my strong prayer that each of you would guard your heart. It is not always an easy task, but I pray that God would give you strength to endure. I also pray that the Lord would protect your hearts from what you cannot protect them from. In Jesus precious and Holy name I pray, Amen. 
post signature
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Pleasant words are like honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. Proverbs 16:24

Popular posts from this blog

The Wetherills Say I Do | Guest Post

Founders Note: Today on the blog we have one of our August sponsors Madison of The Wetherills Say I Do . She is also one of my blogging friends, I have enjoyed working with her this month and am excited to continue in the future, she is a sweet girl with a big heart for others and Jesus! Today She is sharing her heart on this months theme: Beauty in the Brokenness. So be sure to check out her blog at the links below! If you've ever heard a group of people share their testimonies, a lot of them have a common thread: brokenness. A lot of now believers had to come to a very low point in their lives before they had their breaking moment of calling out to Jesus. Have you ever wondered why that is? Why is it that so many of us have to hit rock bottom before we'll realize our infinite need for a Savior? I don't know the answer to that question, but I do know that in my darkest moments, I've seen the Lord hand out grace and turn brokenness into beauty. We all tend t...
11 comments
Read more

Hellooo Beautiful

Founders Note: Today on the blog we have our dear friend Katrina. She sent us her post via email and we instantly responded that we were definitely going to use it! Today she is sharing her heart on this months theme beauty, so we hope you are encouraged by her post as much as we were!  So be sure to check out her designs and blog, cause she's awesome!  "You look beautiful!" Cue the eye roll, an excuse or a denial, and if you're lucky, there's a quiet "thank you" slipped in there to keep from being rude. Sound familiar? I've had too many of these encounters, and have even found myself delivering the eye roll to a well-meaning friend.  Why is it so hard to take a compliment like this? " Tell Me I'm Pretty " I find it interesting how Satan will turn the most beautiful things ( I'm talking about  you  here, by the way ) into a twisted, backwards appearance of the truth in our minds?  We no longer see the ...
5 comments
Read more

1 Year of Ministry Giveaway.

Since we turned one Year Old This week, we are celebrating with a Giveaway. We have teamed up with one of our monthly contributors Charity at the Word of a Nerd to bring you some awesome prizes, which are: Ann Voskamp's 1,000 Gifts and a $25.00 target gift card, 15.00 Starbucks gift card, and a Medium Sized Ad on the Word a Nerd!  So be sure to enter using the raffle copter below, you have until next Thursday! a Rafflecopter giveaway
49 comments
Read more

Finding Comfort in the "Waiting Room"

Founders Note: Today's post is written by our new friend Brooke. Her blog is called "Living as a Single Gal". (you can find the link below) We've just discovered Brooke's blog and we look forward to unwrapping more of the great wisdom she has to share. Without further ado, here is her post... Imagine, if you will, that you are in a waiting room. The room is crowded; people standing, people on chairs, people sitting on the floor; this room is totally packed full. And all of these people are waiting. Waiting for what you may ask? That’s simple; love. You are standing in a corner with some of your girlfriends having some laughs. Then one of them gets called out of the room. Then another. Then another; another one bites the dust. One by one all of your single girlfriends are leaving the waiting room and finding true love. Not only are your friends leaving you, but the rest room seems to empty out significantly. And then there’s you. --...
6 comments
Read more

Paypal Cash Giveaway!

Founders Note: Today we have teamed up with Beth over at Oak and Oats for her 26th Birthday pay pal cash Giveaway! We are so excited to be apart of this, So be sure to enter below for a chance to win! hello sweet readers! today i have something BIG for you! you probably already guessed it buy the title of this post and the giant picture of my cupcake & my face, but tomorrow i am turning 26!!! in honor of such a momentous occasion, i joined up with some lovely ladies to give you the chance to win $250 cash! as i thought about what i wanted to do, i wanted to find a way to celebrate with all of you because you are a huge part of my life. think of this as a party where you are all invited over to my house, you get to meet new friends, chat about, and then one of you gets to walk away with the ultimate party favor - two fifty bucks (because i don't want to be the only one getting gifts today!). THANK YOU TO ALL THESE LADIES WHO ARE HELPING ME WITH THE PARTY!!!  Brynne of...
27 comments
Read more