Have you wondered what it means to “guard your heart”?

Proverbs 4:23 gets our attention with, “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” I’ve come across this passage a bundle of times, then spent the next five minutes mentally trying to unpack it’s intent.

Especially when I was single, I heard this phrase “guard your heart” thrown around at my high school group, and next at my college group. Some people saw it as a good response (instead of just saying “no”) when being asked out for coffee by someone they weren’t interested in. Oops, that’s just not the meaning of the verse! I laugh just thinking about it.

Guarding our heart means recognizing where we place our hope. When the guy you were dating breaks your heart within a few weeks, it’s not time to be hard on yourself. But he was unqualified to have your heart in the first place! Guard your heart from hoping in the things and people that may disappoint, by putting faith in Christ instead. Jesus will be faithful in your life no matter what rejections or letdowns come if you are surrendered to Him through it all.

It takes asking the honest question, “What am I hoping in?” before jumping into a relationship with both feet. You can guard your heart before, during and after a relationship by keeping both feet planted in the true hope that we have: “We know dear sisters, that God loves you and has chosen you…” (1 Thessalonians 1:4)

And with common sense we can see that Proverbs 4 isn’t a letter to single people alone (I even checked the top of the chapter to make sure) so guarding the heart is for life – every day and every one of the 1,440 minutes in our day. 🙂

Whoever…and whatever…the heart hopes in, the heart belongs to.

Thanks for reading.

-Becca

Got wisdom on the “guarding our heart” issue? Please post a comment friends! -b