I was in a meeting this week, and the pastor who gave the devotion was talking about "guarding your heart." I have thought about that quite often since I heard the devotion. The definition of "guard" is to "watch over in order to control or to protect from damage or harm." The Bible talks about different things we should guard against in order to protect us from damage or harm.
One of the first things I thought about is that we have to guard what comes out of our mouths. I believe the Bible even has a verse that tells us to be slow to speak. Our words can be so harmful if we are not guarding what comes out of our mouths. I have soft feelings and can get them hurt very easily. Sometimes it's not what someone has said to me but the manner or tone in which they say it. In Psalms 141:3 the Bible says, "Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips." We must guard our lips by thinking before we speak, and when we speak use wisdom and restraint. Guarding your lips is necessary.
Another thing we must guard is the path we take and the decisions we make. Decisions are all around us. We decide where to work, who to marry, how to parent, where to spend our money, and a ton of other things. On our own, we can easily make mistakes. Oftentimes, we try to rely on what we know to make the best possible choice.
The truth is, we need to rely on God and His direction for the decisions in our lives. We must exercise our faith in God to direct our decisions along our path in life. Proverbs 2:8 says, "For He guards the course of the just and protects the way of the faithful ones." Guard your life decisions by being faithful to the One who knows the right path.
We also must be careful to guard our priorities. In the world we live in, it seems we are measured by the possessions we have, how much money we make, what kind of house we live in, and what cars we drive. The truth is, life should not be measured by material abundance but by spiritual richness. Our eternal priorities are so much more fulfilling and important than anything this world can offer. Our wealth has nothing to do with the security that God gives us.
In Luke 12:15, the Bible says, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions." We need to be more concerned that people see Jesus when they look at us, rather than our outward possessions. Guard your priorities so others see Jesus in your life.
The last thing I will say is guard your heart. The verse the pastor used in his devotion earlier this week was Proverbs 4:23: "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." Our physical heart is what keeps our bodies going. If our heart ceases to beat, we die. In the same way, our spiritual heart controls everything we do and how we operate in this life. What we say, where we go, and our priorities are all guided by our spiritual heart.
God created us with a heart so we could have a loving relationship with Him. If we guard our hearts, we set healthy boundaries - boundaries that safeguard our thoughts, desires, emotions, will, and choices. For others to see Jesus in us, we must guard our hearts. We must guard it well by filling it with truth, wisdom, and the peace of God. Let's stand guard over our hearts.
I don't know about you, but I want to live my life with a heart fully surrendered to God. Guard your heart above all else!
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Jill Johnson finds spiritual applications in her everyday experiences as a wife, mother, grandmother, and Georgian. Jill is retired from the Georgia Baptist Mission Board and is available to speak to your church's women's gatherings. Reach her at jjohnson@gabaptist.org.
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