Prepare My Heart - Day 5: Guard Your Heart

People love to use the phrase “follow your heart” to encourage one another.

Although the cliche phrase may put a smile on someone’s face, God does not want us to be led by the feelings in our hearts. In fact, Jeremiah 17:19 tells us that our hearts are wicked, and not to be trusted.

God gave us feelings to be able to experience raw emotion such as love, joy, and peace with one another. However, because humanity is flawed, we don’t use our emotions to glorify God the way He originally intended for us to.

People choose to be led by their feelings instead of being led by God.

Have you ever made a decision based on your feelings instead of asking God for direction?

Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.

Proverbs 4:23

Proverbs 4:23 is a good reminder of why we should guard our hearts. When the bible references the heart in this scripture, the word heart is referring to your thoughts and ways of thinking. If we want to prepare our hearts for God to work in our lives, we must first get rid of any mental clutter that may be hindering our relationship with God.

Our thoughts influence our actions.

Someone who constantly thinks angry thoughts will display an outburst of rage.
An individual who constantly thinks about food will always overeat.
A person who meditates on scriptures day and night will become successful (Joshua 1:8).

By safeguarding our minds against negativity, we are protecting our hearts. For this reason, Paul encourages us to always think of good things in Phillippians 4:8.

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Here a few examples of how to guard your heart by safeguarding your mind:

Combat gossiping by speaking encouraging words to others
Fight laziness by finding new ways to be productive
Battle lust by confessing the scriptures over your mind and body
Activate forgiveness by giving the love and respect you wish to receive

It’s time to take inventory of your thoughts. What are you constantly thinking about?

As we prepare our hearts for the new year, let’s make a commitment to guard our hearts and our minds against any negativity the enemy may try to plant in our minds.