Your heart is where your dreams are born! Your heart is where your character and mannerisms are formed. The things in your heart say who you really are... they lead to the choices you make and how you live your life... they pave the way for the quality of your future. Ultimately, the things you ponder deep within your heart reveal where you'll spend eternity.
So what's in your heart? Consider it...
Ask yourself-- do the things in your heart honor Christ? Do you think of ways to benefit others? Do you dream of Heaven and the splendor of spending eternity in the Kingdom with your Christian brothers and sisters? Do you seek to draw closer to the Lord, to feel the warmth of His presence and love? Do you desire to understand God's word to acquire wisdom and discernment from it?
Or are there thoughts in the secret places of your heart that you would be ashamed to reveal?
I can't see what's in your heart, and a lot of times, I can't even make sense of what's going on in my own heart, but God always does... He sees and knows. Ask Him to purify your heart completely. It's a matter of surrendering it all to Him and desiring to change. "I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings."
Jeremiah 17:10
The world is full of individuals who are lost-- their lives are void of Christ and their hearts are full of unholy and impure things. They are suffering... emotionally and often externally as well... Remember, the things you fill your heart with lead to the way you live your life. (Thank the Lord that He can purify and bring light to even the darkest of hearts!!!!)
So how do you "guard" (or keep) your heart? First of all, set aside time every day to spend in God's Word. Fill your heart with good things from the Scriptures (Philippians 4:8), meditate on it as often as possible (Psalms 1:2), and spend time with other like-minded Christians for accountability (Hebrews 10:24,25) The best way to cause evil thoughts to die is to stop feeding them. Be very careful about what you're viewing on the internet or TV, what your reading, or who you're hanging out with. If a certain influence is causing you to be tempted in your heart or thought-life, it's time to cut it off. Instead, if you feed wholesome, productive, purposeful and kind thoughts on a regular basis, that's what will start to thrive. Furthermore, guarding your heart will begin to characterize who you are-- how you act, what you choose to do day to day.
Guarding your heart has life-long benefits!
"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by your generous spirit."
Psalms 51:10-12
Beautifully put! that is just what i needed to hear. Thank you Sarah for letting His spirit flow through you!
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