When I attended Colorado College, I could look out my window and see Cheyenne Mountain. Located two thousand feet below the mountain’s solid-granite structure was the northern defense command center for the United States. For us, the heart is our command center. Our heart drives our behavior. Everything that we say or do flows from our heart. In short, what drives our heart will drive our life.
God’s Word tells us that “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Accordingly, God’s Word tells us, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Proverbs 4:23 NIV). Society often tells us to just follow our heart. But God’s Word tells us that we can’t trust our heart. And if we follow a deceitful heart, the result could be disastrous.
A reoccurring question for us is this: What is the status of our heart today? Is our heart right so that the words and actions that flow from it show such things as love, joy, peace, and kindness? (Galatians 5: 22,23). Or is our heart deceitful or corrupt so that our words and actions show such things as anger, enmity, and strife? (Galatians 5:19-21).
Because our actions and what comes out of our mouth reveal what is in our heart (Matthew 15:18,19), we need to understand what our true heart is, how to guard it, and one thing we can do each morning to ensure that our heart is right before God.
The Heart
Society looks at the outward appearance of the heart and defines it as a muscle that pumps blood to our body. But God does not look at the outward appearance. Instead, he looks inside our heart (1 Samuel 16:7) to see our true inner-self. God knows that what flows from our heart determines the outcome of our life. Therefore, he tells us that our number one priority is to guard our heart. (Proverbs 4:23 NIV).
How to Guard Our Heart
Here are four ways to guard our heart:
- Continually fill our heart with truth.
What is truth? God’s Word is truth (John 17:17), and Jesus is the truth (John 14:6). God tells us to read his Word and keep it in our heart. Therefore, we need to continually study and apply God’s Word to our life (Colossians 3:16). And we need to read Proverbs 2:1-10 to find out what we must do in order to have wisdom come into our heart in order to guard it.. Not only is Jesus the truth but also God’s Word tells us that Jesus is the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24). Furthermore, God made Jesus our wisdom (1 Corinthians1:30). In fact, God’s Word tells us that “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” are found in Christ (Colossians 2: 2, 3). Therefore, we need to know Jesus better by reading what he said and did as recorded in the Bible. Also, we need to know Jesus better by spending time with him every day in prayer. - Take control over what we think.
Remember the old saying, garbage in-garbage out. If we allow garbage thoughts to enter our heart, then garbage thoughts and actions will come out. So replace garbage thoughts with “…whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Philippians 4:8). - Take any garbage thought captive.
If a garbage thought enters our mind, we must take it captive to obey Christ. In fact, God’s Word says,”…take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). Consequently, we need to turn over any garbage thought to Christ before it causes a problem. - Prayer and supplication with thanksgiving.
God’s Word tells us, “Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Emphasis supplied Philippians 4:6,7). Consequently, if we want to keep (guard) our heart, God’s Word tells us to act through prayer, supplication ( a humble request for help), and thanksgiving.
The One Thing
Every morning before we get out of bed, the one thing we can do is ask God to give us a new and clean heart and a new and right spirit (Psalm 51:10; Ezekiel 36:26. 27). A friend told me that his life changed for the better when he added one thing to his daily routine. Upon awakening each morning, he asks God to give him a new and clean heart and a new and right spirit.