Above all else, guard your heart is a phrase said by Solomon, and found in the book of Proverbs 4:23-26 and that it is imperative to know it because it is one of the verses of the Bible that believers are most familiar with, but how difficult it is to keep your heart as this verse says, in the face of so many situations that exist in the world, that comes to lift the old nature.
God in his perfect will through the Bible comes to take practical matters, intertwining them with the spiritual and makes life what He wants it to be in his children. That is why when a person knows God and has a good relationshipyou will discover that you live a perfectly natural, intensely practical and deeply spiritual life seeking to guard your heart.
Above all guarded things guard your heart Proverbs 4:23-26
When Solomon refers to: “Above all else, guard your heart” he means that the inner essence of a person, the thoughts, feelings, desires, will, and decisions that make up who a person is, They are in the heart, but he does not refer to the organ that allows blood to be pumped and the person to have life, he refers to the mind of the human being.
That is why Solomon writes these verses inspired by the holy spirit of godwho reveals to him what is necessary for his children.
“Above all else, guard your heart; because life flows from it. He removes from you wickedness from his mouth, and removes iniquity from your lips. Your eyes look straight, and direct your eyelids towards what you have in front of you. Examine the path of your feet, and let all your ways be straight” (Proverbs 4:23-26).
In this sense the Bible He says that thoughts often determine what a person becomes.
“As one water resembles another, so is the heart of one man to another” (Proverbs 27:19)
The mind of the human being reflects what he really is, not only by his actions or words, that is why God examine the hearts of human beingsnot just his outward appearance and what he appears to be but what is in his heart.
“And Jehovah answered Samuel: Do not look at his appearance, nor at the greatness of his stature, because I reject him; because Jehovah looks not what man looks at; for man looks at what is before his eyes, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16: 7)
when read “Above all else, guard your heart” It means that the person must nurture the new nature created in the Spirit, it must be filled with the love and the word of Godand must take care not to contaminate it with banal or undesirable things that are unpleasant in the eyes of God.
When reviewing the Bible, it is found that in the Old Testament, the word “heart” is used more than 800 times, but in more than 200 times It refers to thoughts, emotions, the sources of life, those things that motivate and shape people. And that is why the Bible calls that the heart and that is what Solomon refers to in this verse. “Above all else, guard your heart”
you can also read 7 Ways The Heart Of Man Resists The Lordship Of Christ
What happens when the Heart is not Guarded
just as they exist diseases and disorders that can affect the physical heart, there are many diseases that can harm the spiritual heart that comes to harm growth and development as a believer, that’s why his advice “Above all else, guard your heart”, since he knew that there could be a hardening of the spiritual heart.
When speaking of hardening of the heart, this occurs when the God’s Truth, and the person refuses to acknowledge or accept it, many things can happen that harden the heart and can lead a person to deny God, and does not allow the believer to have a free flow of God’s peace and blessings that come to him. They derive from obedience.
“Because he is our God; We the people of his pasture, and sheep from his hand. If today you hear the voice of him, do not harden your hearts as in Meribah, as the day of Masa in the desert ”(Psalms 95: 7-8)
Solomon when saying “Above all else, guard your heart” he meant above all guard, guard your mental life, that is, stay alert and be diligent, since the Lord wants believers to present their bodies and their mindsso that He can transform them.
When God is in someone’s heart, then his thoughts are good, they live well, they do the right thingwhile if God is absent, they think badly, they do evil, they live badly, and they do the wrong thing.
“For from within, out of the hearts of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, greed, wickedness, deceit, shamelessness, an evil eye, insults, pride, the foolishness All these evil things come out from within and defile a man” (Mark 7:21-23).
Therefore, to guard your heart, you must be careful with what you give it. It comes to mindsince their thoughts have to be pure, and solomon warns against having such impure and immoral thoughts in people’s hearts and lives.
guard your heart
It is imperative to guard your heart, because it is very valuable, since your heart is your authentic being, it is the core of your being. It is where all dreams, desires and passions live, it is that part that connects with God and with other people. That is the same as with your physical body, if your spiritual heart dies, your essence in God dies, that is why Solomon says: “Above all else, guard your heart”, that is your priority.
Solomon says that “Above all else, guard your heart; because life flows from it” that is, it is the source of everything else in life. If your heart is not healthy, that will impact everything around you, threatening your relationship with your family, friends, profession, ministry, that is, everything.
When Solomon refers to guarding your heart, he implies that it is a constant combat zonesince the enemy uses all kinds of weapons to attack the heart, and these attacks come in the form of some circumstance that leads to disappointment or discouragementso in these situations, it is necessary to renounce all temptations, and go out into the field to fight the battle hand in hand with God.
It is important to guard the heart from a spirit of complaint and cultivate the spirit of gratitude and trustsince it is common to participate in the complaint, gossip, conflicts and fights and that is why they change their focus and move away from God’s plans, purposes, and blessings.
It is necessary to cut the foreskin of the heart, since there is a part of the conscience that is growing and producing the insensitivity that comes from the sin, the wickedness and unbelief that are proper to human nature, and as long as this is not removed and changed by the new consciousness in Christ, it will impede the flow of God.
“Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no more.” (Deuteronomy 10:16)
The conscience that surrounds the heart is corrupting it, producing disbeliefwhere destructive emotions such as envy, jealousy, bitterness They come to corrupt the heart even more, since the greater the corruption, the greater the disbelief and lack of faith, which is why it is prevailing “Above all else, guard your heart”.
One of the things that the heart should keep is the entrance of pride, haughtiness, that it was the sin that came to show Satan wanting to be like God, and produced that Eve will eat of the fruit by teaching him that with that he could be like God, and that is why they were expelled from their places.
“Every haughty heart is an abomination to the LORD; certainly he will not go unpunished ”(Proverbs 16: 5)
you can also read Characteristics of a Man After God’s Heart
From the beginning it has been said that the phrase “Above all else, guard your heart”, It means that people should take care of themselves. contaminations that are in the worldand therefore they must renew their thinking.
“For the rest, brothers, all that is true, all that is honest, all that is just, all that is pure, all that is lovely, all that is of good name; If there is any virtue, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about this” (Philippians 4:8).
By remaining these things it will help to build that wall of protection around the heart and what Solomon said can be fulfilled “Above all else, guard your heart”and have the life that God wants them to have.