A Word from the Word
Guard Your Heart
Proverbs 4:23
Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. NIV
There is one area of your personality that is more important than any other and that is your heart. The state of your heart will determine the course of your life. You are advised and admonished by God to guard your heart more than all else. It’s the most important thing that’s committed to your keeping, the condition of your own heart.
I remember many years ago in a country in East Africa, when I was serving as a principal at a college for training teachers, on the wall on the dormitory of my students, one of them had written that Scripture up in her own particular language. And I read it in that language and translated it literally, and it has stayed with me ever since. It says, “Guard your heart with all your strength, for all the things there are in life come out of it.”
Everything in your life ultimately proceeds out of your heart. The condition of your heart is going to determine the condition of your life. Guard it with all your strength. Don’t let any evil in; don’t make room for unbelief, for bitterness, for fear, for anxiety, because if there are bitter things in your heart, then there will be bitterness in your life. But if your heart is pure and clean, if your heart is filled with faith and love and with truth and with righteousness, then the course of your life will be a course of success.
So, remember that. Guard your heart with all your strength for all the things there are in life come out of it.