Guard Your Heart

When Eve decided to eat the fruit from the one tree God had instructed her not to eat from, she was trusting that it was a good decision. She was wrong. So how do we know when to trust ourselves? Here’s a helpful tip: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.”¹ But wait a minute. If the Spirit of Christ abides in our hearts, then can we not trust our own heart? Well . . . maybe. Does not God speak to our hearts? Yes, as a matter of fact, he does! So, if our heart is telling us to do something, couldn’t that be God speaking? Possibly.

But trusting our heart is a complicated matter. One difficulty is that although our heart may be in the right place, what our heart tells us to do might be the wrong thing! Another problem is that sometimes we just want something with all our heart and we cannot hear any other instruction but the one that will give us what we really really want! So, we follow our heart! Which is the Disney way! But maybe not the best way.

How do we know if our heart is giving us good advice? Although there is not one infallible foolproof watertight way, here is another important tip: “Above all else, guard your heart for everything you do flows from it.”² What does it mean to guard our heart? It starts in our mind. We need to be vigilant about what we allow to enter our mind for everything begins there and then flows to our heart, and then everything else flows out from there! Here’s a third tip: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”³

A transformed mind will help us to discern God’s will. The question, then, is what should our minds think about? Paul gives us a great list whereby he exclaims at the end: “think about these things.”⁴ The list includes true things, honorable things, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and praiseworthy things.

The list sounds very much like a page out of Norman Vincent Peale’s popular book The Power of Positive Thinking (1952).  But if we simply try our best to look on the bright side and focus on positive things, we will eventually grow weary and give up. Surely, Paul is not telling us to just have a glass-half-full-not-glass-half-empty perspective. No, not at all. The verses preceding his list is the key to our thought process. Paul tells us to pray instead of worrying, to give our thoughts to God. Then—and only then—“the peace of God – pay attention, here! – the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”⁵

God’s peace guards our hearts and minds from worry. Worry, by the way, is consumed with fears promoted by lies. God’s peace, on the other hand, is overflowing with truth.  Paul tells us if we “practice these things”⁶—practice thinking about the things on the list, “the God of peace will be with you.”⁶

However. Trusting in God and having God’s peace does not necessarily mean we will understand God’s answer to our prayers. As a matter of fact, we probably will not understand it—which is why the scripture says “do not lean on your own understanding,”¹  or rely on or depend on being able to make sense of it. I sometimes wonder if not understanding God’s answer is a sign that we have heard him correctly! A heart that has been protected by prayer and a mind that has been transformed and renewed might instruct us to do a hard thing and even an undesirable thing. That is why it is imperative that we remember to, “Above all else, guard your heart for everything you do flows from it.”²  John Flavel, a minister living in the 17^th century, wrote a short book about this very thing called Keeping the Heart where he claims that it is the most important business of the Christian’s life.

The bottom line is that we must be able to distinguish God’s voice from every other voice that shouts and whispers to our hearts. How do we do that? Simple. The more conversations we have with God, the more we will recognize his voice. It’s like instinctively knowing on the phone who is speaking before the person identifies himself. Consider this: when have we ever, after receiving a call from a close friend, ask Who is this?

Pray often. Transform your mind. Guard your heart.

¹Proverbs 3:4   ²Proverbs 4:23   ³Romans 12:2   ⁴Philippians 4:8   ⁵Philippians 4:6-7   ⁶Philippians 4:9