* Please note this is a series – if you are new here, first of all, thank you for visiting us. You are always welcome. Secondly, should you want to read this series from the beginning or pick and choose by topic, click the “Stinkin’ Thinkin’ Makeover” tab under the header above.
Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. – Proverbs 4:23
The heart is a tricky little thing – it can be fickle. Or envious. Or joyful. Or anxious, rejected, disappointed. It can be content.
Sometimes it can be all of the above depending on the hour/day/week/month.
However, there’s one thing I can say with strong conviction: the heart matters. Big time.
We can try to squelch it, silence it, stomp on it, dismiss it and deny it all we want – eventually, the truth boils up and if we let it fester too long, some pretty ugly stuff attaches itself along for the ride – and it wasn’t even there in the first place.
Ever thought of those three impactful words? Above. All. Else.
There’s no action that we can “do” that trumps the guarding of our hearts and yet before the past two years taught me otherwise, there I stood, waving it out for the world to devour.
But guarding your heart doesn’t mean that we become cynical and retreat from the world in bitterness and unforgiveness.
It means that we have the wisdom to know what is good for our hearts and what is not and the self-control to stay away from what isn’t.
If the eye is the lamp of the body (Matthew 6:22) and they send rays to the world of who we are, then what we expose them to will be what is beamed out to others.
What do we want to shine-out from our eyes?
I was talking to a friend of mine the other day who has a daughter that struggles in school. She is an incredibly bright girl but her mind doesn’t work in the traditional sense so her grades are not the best.
“I finally had to quit getting on Facebook because I was so tired of people posting about how their children were so smart and solving world peace and going on mission trips to Africa at the age of ten,” she said.
In other words, comparison strikes again.
The very thing that tramples our gratitude which in turn leads us to dampen our joy and starts to chip away our trust in God. (And yes, my friend gave me permission to discuss this so don’t you all think I’m going to analyze every little thing you say or fear I’ll write about a conversation we have.)
If we must guard our hearts “above all else” then there are many of us (myself included) allowing the spirit of comparison through the gates.
And what does that do to our wellspring?
What we put in has a direct correlation to what we think, sisters.
Garbage in, garbage out – but, goodness in, goodness out. Thank God for the antidote.
So if our spirit is lagging and our thoughts are dragging, then perhaps we need to ask God to enter into this and reveal what isn’t bearing much fruit.
And while we’re at it, let’s ask Him to replace the spirit of comparison with one of contentment and self-control.
In what ways have you felt led to guard your heart this year? What effect has this choice had on you?
Such beautiful, wise words! Thank you!
This year, about 6 months ago, I turned off my cable! It was sucking away all of my free time–and my time with God.
It was a really hard adjustment for me personally, but 6 months out I’m SO THANKFUL! After my son goes to bed I now have a couple hours to study Gods word, read a good book, pray, or just be in silence.
This was by far one of the best choices I’ve made to guard my heart. I still watch an occasional show online, but my mind and heart have been cleared of a lot of junk because I’m not putting it in! THANK GOD!!!
Thanks for your blog. It’s really wonderful!!
Kati, it’s so nice to see you here! Thank you for reading and commenting!
I SOOOOO hear you on this. I don’t ever watch TV anymore and I see MAJOR fruit from this choice. My head is so much less cluttered (which is scary considering it’s still pretty cluttered without the TV) and I am learning way more…
I appreciate your encouragement – thank you!
“It means that we have the wisdom to know what is good for our hearts and what is not and the self-control to stay away from what isn’t.”
Ok, that one line just spoke volumes to me this morning. Usually “guarding your heart” to me would have a negative connotation, but is this context, I finally get it! Thanks Nat, God is using your platform for so much good!
Thank you, sister…:) You bless me, girl.
Beautiful post! Thank you! The thing that God has had me working on this year is gratefulness … looking up, and out, instead of just IN. Noticing and being thankful for all the myriad blessings in my life!