Everyone has a heart. It’s a universal truth. But not everyone keeps their heart guarded—protected against the pain and suffering that life brings us.
But what if you could? What if you knew how to protect your heart, so that it was filled with joy and peace instead of sorrow and sadness? Would you do it?
Well, we’re here to show you how! In this blog series, we’ll be exploring ways to guard your heart in the Bible. We’ll look at the various ways that we can make sure our hearts stay strong, healthy, and full of faith while also avoiding any unnecessary damage.
Right here on Churchgist, you are privy to a litany of relevant information on guard your heart and mind bible verse,5 ways to guard your heart, and so much more. Take out time to visit our catalog for more information on similar topics.
Introduction
The Bible tells us to “guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life” (Proverbs 4:23 NLT). What do you guard? You protect what you value most. You keep it where no one else can get it. And that’s just how important our hearts are to God. We should do everything we can to protect them because our lives depend on it! That means guarding your heart against sin, worry, the enemy’s attacks, anger and fear. In this article I’ll explain why each one is so dangerous — and then give you practical ways to defend yourself against these threats!
Your heart must be guarded against sin.
Let’s face it, sin is all over the place. It is not allowed in your heart, mind, body or the world. Sin is not allowed in your home, workplace or at church. In fact, sin cannot be found anywhere except on you! The question is: “What are you going to do about it?”
Your heart must be guarded against worry.
Worry, on the other hand, is a waste of time. Worry is not a problem-solving activity. It does not bring you closer to solutions or make anything better. Worrying about something does not change it; it only makes the situation worse by giving you additional things to worry about (and for which you can blame yourself).
Worry often goes hand in hand with fear and self-pity. Fear can cause us to worry about what might happen if we don’t take care of some particular thing or situation; self-pity will result from our feelings that we are helpless against whatever is worrying us; both fear and self-pity keep us from acting effectively toward solving problems and facing problems head on instead of avoiding them or wishing they would go away somehow magically through our own effortless willpower (or lack thereof).
When we allow ourselves to stay stuck in these types of behaviors – whether they’re related directly to the original concern (such as avoiding asking someone out because they might say no) or indirectly related through other behaviors such as getting side tracked while driving home because thoughts start flooding into our heads – this creates anxiety where there wasn’t any before: we didn’t have any problems but now suddenly everything seems like a problem!
Your heart must be guarded against the enemy.
Your heart is a treasure that the enemy wants to steal, kill and destroy. He will use any means necessary to get his hands on it. He will try to destroy every relationship in your life because he knows how important they are to you. He will even go after your reputation if it helps him get closer to taking control of your heart. Your health is another area he likes to attack because when you have health issues it can cause stress on relationships and financial problems as well.
The best way for us as believers in Christ Jesus is not try and fight against this enemy but instead guard our hearts with God’s Word by praying daily (1 Thessalonians 5:17), meditating upon His Word (Psalm 1:2), reading God’s Word daily in prayerful dependence upon Him (Psalm 1:2), attending church regularly & associating ourselves with other Christians who are doing these things also (Hebrews 10:25).
Your heart must be guarded against anger.
Anger is a sin. God’s word says that anger is a work of the flesh and it will not go unpunished (Galatians 5:19-21). Anger causes us to do things we regret, like driving our car through an innocent person’s living room in a fit of rage. It can cause us to lose control over ourselves and lash out at others in ways that are sometimes rude or cruel. We’ve all seen this happen when someone gets angry with their spouse or friend and then verbally lashes them out with harsh words that wound the heart deeply because they were spoken with so much emotion behind them.
Once you become aware of your own anger issues, ask God to heal those wounds inside yourself so they no longer fester under the surface but instead allow Him access into every part of who you are so He can cleanse your heart from any bitterness toward another person or even yourself!
Your heart must be guarded against fear.
Your heart is a powerful thing. It’s what gives you the ability to love, understand and make decisions for yourself. But it can also be your greatest weakness when not guarded properly. If you allow fear to take control of your heart, the consequences can be devastating—running from God is only one of them!
Fear has been known to cause people to make bad decisions just because they don’t want to feel pain or hurt again. Fear has caused people in abusive relationships stay with their abuser rather than leave out of fear that things might get worse if they do leave. Fear has also prevented some people from pursuing dreams and even prevented them from talking about those dreams out loud because they’re afraid someone might laugh at them or tell them they should give up on those dreams (which sometimes causes us not even realize we have these fears until someone brings it up).
We all have fears but we must guard our hearts against letting those fears control us or stop us from doing what we know is right for our lives.
Guard your heart and mind with what’s good, not what’s evil or harmful.
You should focus on what’s good, right, healthy, true and positive.
Here are some ways you can do that:
- Read the Bible. The Bible is full of wisdom and truth that will help you live a better life. God wants to give us a good life here on earth (Psalm 37:25) because He knows we need to be happy in order to have a relationship with Him (John 17:3).
Conclusion
Guarding your heart is not something to take lightly. The Bible tells us that a man’s heart is the wellspring of life, and we must be intentional about guarding what is in it. Think about how much time you spend thinking about things that are good for your heart and mind vs the amount of time you spend on things like sin or worry. If we want to live a life of peace and happiness, then we need to make sure we guard our hearts from the things that harm them.
