“Guard your heart” is a phrase that I use ALL the time,
especially when it comes to talking to men and women pertaining relationships,
sin, negativity etc. In my very vivid imagination
I have a bank door around my heart with guards standing in front of it lol
Proverbs 4:23 (KJV)
says” Keep your heart with all diligence;
for out of it are the issues of life.” The NIV says “Above all else, guard your
heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
That verse speaks on the things that flow out of our heart,
but what about the things we allow into our heart? Eventually the things we
allow IN our heart will flow OUT of it. So how do we “Guard our heart”?
I always say “the things you water will grow”. The things
you focus on will become bigger than they really are. We have to be careful of
the things we focus on.
I’ll use singleness as an example. Me being a single woman,
I have to guard my heart from certain things and people. I can’t allow myself
to get too wrapped up in the fact that I’m single, so certain shows or movies I
don’t watch so I won’t “get in my feelings”. I don’t feed myself “loneliness”,
or my singleness. Although I LOVE movies, about love and weddings, sometimes I
can’t watch it because I know it will feed my emotions. I can’t allow my
emotions to rule over what I know as the facts. Fact is Yes, I’m single, but
nothing is wrong with that, and God has someone special for me, if I just trust
him and keep my focus on him. Whenever I feel myself “getting” in my feelings I
have to “feed” myself word. I have to encourage myself. Guard my heart!
Love and marriage aren’t the only things we have to guard
our hearts from. We have to guard our hearts from sinful things. As children of
God living is this world sinful image’s and things are EVERYWHERE. Television
and internet have made sin so accessible. What do we do? We can’t get in a rocket
ship and fly out of here (though we may want to at times). We have to guard our
hearts, especially from the things we deal with personally. One person’s conviction
is not the next person’s conviction. One person may struggle with this sin; the
other person might struggle with that. (Although No sin is greater than the
other, besides blasphemy, sin is sin and we all have different ones we may
struggle with)
There’s a show on MTV called catfish. (I watch occasionally
because it’s amazing to me that people are STILL being cat fished with ALL this
technology.) I had a Christian on twitter DM me, telling me I was wrong for
watching that show because the people on
the show were gay ( they didn’t “do” any gay acts on the show) the person DM’ing
me had an issue because they were battling with homosexuality. I explained to
them that homosexuality is no something I have ever battled with and I felt no
conviction for watching the show. (Christians please understand, though we have
Christ in common, EVERYTHING we do will not be things we agree on, and that is
fine) - When I watch that show I feel bad for the people because there is an
underlying hurt within that needs to be addressed, and at the end of the show I
usually tweet about it and how we should be praying for these hurt people and
not laughing etc. Sometimes we as Christians need to know what’s going on in
the world, so we can minister accordingly- I encouraged the person that DM’d me
to guard their heart! If homosexuality is something they are battling with,
they shouldn’t watch shows that talk about it, shows that promote it, shouldn’t
go to places or hang around people that are living that life style. You have to
learn how to guard your heart, protect yourself from the things that YOU battle
with, within yourself.
Same thing goes for lust. If you KNOW that lust is an issue
with you, stop blaming the sista’s/fella’s at church, and take on responsibility,
what are YOU feeding your lustful spirit
that is helping this lust grow? What shows are you watching? What songs are you
listening too? What is your screen saver on your lap top? You need to guard
your heart! Yes temptation is everyone, but with EVERY temptation there is an
escape. 1 Corinthians 10:13 “There hath no temptation taken
you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you
to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a
way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
Sometimes the escape comes before the temptation, sometimes
you have to guard yourself from the temptation. Now if your PURSUING sin, you’re
making a choice to sin, you won’t be able to see the escape because your focus
is on the sin. We you feed yourself something enough, you get used to it, and
you start to crave it and expect it. Guard your heart!
This also applies to negativity. You can’t allow just
anybody to speak into your life yet alone speak over your life. You have to be
able to discern what you should receive from certain people. That is why you
must know God for yourself. Anyone can say “God said” and make you do or
believe what they want you to believe. You need to know God for yourself, and
pray about the situation. False prophets are real. Mean people are real! Guard
your heart!
Guarding your heart is something you have to WANT to do. You
have to want to protect your heart, your emotions and your spirit from things
that might harm you. You have to actively make steps toward doing it. You can’t
just pursue sin and say “Lord guard my heart”. God doesn’t force himself on anyone;
you have to WANT to do it. God can’t do something you’re not allowing him to do.
Allow God to show you the area’s in your life which you need to guard. Once you
know the areas, ask God HOW to do it. You’re going to have to tell your flesh
to have a seat because it might not agree, but it’s worth it. Guarding your
heart from potential heart breaks and sin is so worth it. It allows you to be
free and available to God.
I encourage you all to guard your heart. Protect yourself
from sin, distractions and negativity. Protect yourself from ANYTHING that will
make you weary on this journey (including people). Sacrificing a little should
be no big deal compared to the ultimate sacrifice God did. He sent is ONLY
begotten son, to die on a cross that should’ve been for us. The very least we
can do is live for him. Don’t just be a pew sitter, but let’s make steps to
being holy and acceptable in his sight. Let’s make the decision to be Doers of
the word and not just hearers’. Let’s Guard our hearts!!
If you love someone tell them
I love you
Sincerely,
The girl with the guarded heart.
Destaynee
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