Guard Your Heart

When we guard our hearts by not allowing hate, anger, prejudice, and unbelief to take up residence in our hearts, we can live happier lives. And it shows in everything we do and say.

Guarding our hearts doesn’t mean building walls around our feelings and not getting hurt. We all will experience heartache and disappointments, and we can’t stop that. Just like taking care of our bodies doesn’t mean we won’t have some health problems. Of course we will, but we can deal with them.

That doesn’t mean I don’t have negative feelings sometimes. However, it’s my job not to allow them to dwell in my heart. Always listen to your heart. Your heart is the most powerful intelligence in your body. This is because your heart started beating before your brain existed.

By Deana Landers www.morningcoffeebeans.com

When our children were young, I was always cautious about what they watched on television. Looney Tunes cartoons were their favorites.

Occasionally I would ban them from watching some of the cartoons because they were comically violent and graphic. The cartoon characters beat each other to the point where blood, bruises, and missing teeth were revealed. Sometimes an arm would fall off a character; another would be chopped in half, and multiple scenes showed characters losing their skin and walking around as skeletons.

I know I might have been silly, but I was careful because I felt like the violence, even though comical and unbelievable, would cause them to think it was acceptable to smack people around.

My children laugh at me now about how concerned I was then. But, unfortunately, so many dangerous and wrong things are acceptable on TV and the internet today.

One of the first scriptures I memorized as a teenager was, “Guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”

When we take care of our physical heart by eating healthy foods, exercising, maintaining a healthy weight, avoiding tobacco, alcohol, and drugs, and managing our stress, we can live a longer and healthier life. And it shows in everything we do.

That means your heart’s intelligence came before your brain. However, the heart and the brain work together. The brain receives and gives information; your heart tells you what to do.

Pay attention to your physical health and your heart health. If your body or heart tells you something doesn’t feel right—it probably isn’t.

The complete scripture in (Proverbs 4:23) is “ Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it .”

Our heart is our true self. It is the part that connects us to God and other people in our lives. Just like our physical body will die if we don’t care for it, our true self will die if we don’t care for our spiritual heart. That’s why Solomon said, “Above all else...”