GUARD YOUR HEART

Proverbs 4:23 says, "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."

What a massive introduction! I mean, "above all else"? Why so urgent and important? Because the heart is not just the place of your emotions. The heart, biblically, is interchangeable with your spirit or your soul. It is that deepest part of you that is the truest you. It is in your heart that you hold on to your deepest convictions about what you must have to receive life joyfully. Your heart is where you hold the convictions that determine how you view yourself, interpret events, determine value, understand the world, and so much more.

Oh yeah, you better guard that, for sure. Here's why: What the heart chooses to believe, the mind perceives and finds reasonable, the emotions desire and find beautiful, and the will does and finds practical. What your heart believes, you must have. Unless you get down to this, you'll never fully understand yourself.

And, if outside forces or cultural messages are allowed to form this deepest part of you, then you surrender the captain's chair of your soul to an alien invader. No, that chair is reserved for you alone, as you surrender your own authority to the One who created and redeemed you.

Why is this critical? Everything you do flows from this! Change is hard, and it's near impossible without experiencing deep convictions and changes in your heart, and then allowing your heart/soul/spirit to rule over your emotions, will, and body.

There is gold right here in this proverb. Spend some time reflecting on your heart and the convictions it deeply holds that are shaping everything you do.