“Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.”
Prov. 4:23
Our heart: the most
important aspect of our walk with God.
From our heart will come the speech and the actions. If the speech and actions are not in line
with God’s will, the focus needs to be on a heart change, and that heart change
will produce the change in behavior.
Nothing is more important than our heart, which is why we are admonished
to guard it with all diligence.
To guard something means you protect it. To guard something means that you make sure
that what you are guarding stays strong enough to stand up for itself. To guard something means you provide an
impenetrable gate, to keep out those things that could capture your heart and
take it away from God. So, how do we practically
guard our heart with all diligence?
1.
Keep your
heart growing in Christ by being in the Word and prayer every day. Your heart is the center of your relationship
with God, and this relationship cannot stay strong without regular time in the
Word and prayer. The Word of God feeds
the heart and helps it to grow strong.
In addition, to feeding on God’s Word,
2.
Feed your
heart things that keep it passionate for God. Learn what it is that stirs your affections
for God. For some it is a good book,
while others it is worship music. I love
to hear stirring messages. Sometimes a
seminar or conference is just what I need to pump my heart up in the Lord. Build into the rhythm of your life those
things that keep your heart in tune with God.
3.
Be
sensitive to God speaking to your heart and showing you things that need
attention. Take time to “be still and
know that He is God.” Listen to His
“still, small voice” speaking to you.
Respond to whatever He shows you.
Pray, “Search me, O God, and know my heart, and see if there be any
hurtful way in me.” In doing this, we
help to keep our heart tender before God.
The first three ways of “guarding our heart with all
diligence” is an offensive strategy, because the best defense is a strong offense. The next three are more defensive.
4.
Quickly
repent of sin. Keep short accounts
with God by immediately confessing and repenting of sin. Sin is a cancer cell in our heart. If allowed to grow, it will destroy us. Immediately confessing and repenting of sin
is like chemotherapy to that cancer cell.
It destroys it and keeps it from growing. The blood of Jesus is the unfailing
chemotherapy of God against sin.
5.
Be
willing to remove anything from your life that tends to pull you away from
the Lord. “Lay aside every encumbrance
and the sin that so easily entangles you” (Hebr. 12:1). We know we are to lay aside sin, but here we
are told to also lay aside anything that can weigh us down from running the
race with all diligence. What might that be for you? Perhaps it is busyness, excess television,
social media, hobbies, sports, or shopping.
6.
Say “No”
to temptation. Sin comes knocking at
our door. Guarding your heart is not
answering that knock. Flee sin. Don’t
even give a place for temptation. Remove
from your life any and all sources of temptation, be it tv, the internet,
movies, certain relationships, etc. If
any of those things bring the devil knocking at your door, then remove
them. Guarding our heart requires
radical steps.
Finally, if you find yourself repeatedly struggling in the
same area (i.e., pornography, anger, depression, etc.), get help. Don’t put off going to a counselor, receiving
healing prayer, or whatever it takes to get to the root issue. Your
heart is too precious to not be willing to have spiritual, cardiac surgery!
More than ever, we need to be proactive to guard our
heart. If we don’t guard it, no one else
will. So much in our culture today is
about self, fun, entertainment, relaxation, and sports. None of those things are bad per se, but they
are very temporal, and can cause our hearts to drift. Be intentional about guarding your heart with
all diligence. And enjoy the fruit that comes from doing this.
