Safeguarding our heart health
Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Proverbs 4:23
Most people believe that our future is determined by our choices in life, such as education, career, marriage, or financial ability. According to the key verse today, our hearts determine every issue in our lives.
As instructed in the verse, we should guard our hearts above all else. As a society, we are often influenced to focus more on our external appearance, such as anti-aging, fitness, or even mental health. Those are significant, but our hearts are like the control panel for our bodies and minds. They govern our thoughts, desires, personalities, appetites, and basically everything we do.
Therefore, keeping our hearts healthy will benefit our physical and mental health, so we don’t have to invest too much money on fancy treatments to keep our bodies and minds healthy. So, how can we improve our “heart health?" By “guarding our hearts” and “tuning into God's heart.”
"Guarding" refers to watching over, and protecting from harm or damage. In order to protect our physical health, we follow a healthy eating regimen and minimize any harmful materials that enter our bodies. As with our hearts, we must guard our hearts from sinful influences, especially our eyes and ears, which are the main entrances to our hearts. Our heart health is directly impacted by what we choose to see, hear, and spend time with every day. The second thing we need to do is guard ourselves from negative thinking and learn how to take our thoughts captive, which is a powerful way of guarding our hearts and minds. This means we can discern and separate lies from truth effectively. We won't listen to the enemy's lies. Since the human heart is deceptive (Jeremiah 17:9), we need God's wisdom in order to discern the truth in an age of deceit.
Lastly, we need to tune into God's heart and let Him give us a new heart. " I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26" , as we guard our hearts from negativity with our choices and intentions, tuning our hearts to God is like an open invitation, “ Dear God, I give you my heart. Only you can fix my heart”
Our hearts matter because God wants our hearts. He doesn't care about what we do, He cares about our hearts that draw near to Him, when He has our hearts, He can heal our broken hearts and give us a whole and healthy heart.
Let us guard our hearts with diligence and love the Lord with all our hearts.
Blessing prayer: I pray that the Holy Spirit flows from our hearts, protecting us from bad influences and connecting us with the heart of Jesus at all times. In Jesus’ Name Amen
