Keeping your heart...

I've been thinking for awhile about this subject. Then I began to hear others talk about it. A few weeks ago, a dear sister in Christ was here with her husband and as we were talking she mentioned that her new book she is writing is about keeping our hearts. She floored me, because I had not heard many people who believed this.
Then just last night, a dear brother mentioned the verse that I've been pondering in my heart for months. "Keep thy heart with all diligence."

I believe that is strong language. He mentioned how "keep" meant to "guard" and that was a military term. And we know that if we diligently do something, we are putting our all into it.

For now, there are three areas I want to talk about guarding our heart in.

The first is friends. Who you are friends with says a lot about you. Have you ever heard a mother defend a wayward child by saying, "He's a good boy, he just got in with the wrong crowd." Well the longer we allow ourselves to "fellowship" with the wrong crowd, the more like them we become. Pretty soon, we are that wrong crowd.

We should guard our heart against the wrong kind of friends. We should choose them carefully. I agree we should show kindness to all men, but that doesn't mean we have to allow them to become close to us. Remember the Bible says, "Evil communications corrupt good manners."

Secondly, we should guard our hearts from ungodly influences. Every day we are bombarded with things. We must make the choice of what we will allow in our life, and what we will cast out.

For me, music is a hard one. Sometimes in the grocery store I will hear a song I listened to before I was saved, and POW! All the words instantly come back into my mind. What must I do? Put it out! Even if that means leaving the store.

Some people don't struggle with music, but they struggle in other areas. It may be with their eyes. The Bible has verses for that. Job said he made a covenant with his eyes. The Bible also says, "I will set no wicked thing before mine eye."
Magazines, books, TV, billboards...even immodesty in public. There is much to guard our eyes from!

Maybe it's places. For those who were into drugs and alcohol before they were saved, it would not be wise to visit the liquor store or drug house...even if it is to pass out tracts.

Maybe it's gossip. There are those who just love to be the first to share something juicy. RUN from them! Avoid it, nip it in the bud. If you hear it, you will be tempted to spread it.

Maybe it's a heart issue; pride, jealousy, anger, bitterness. I've struggled with those before. We have to root them out though, because if not, they will gain a strong hold in our lives that will be harder to deal with later.

It could be other things. We all fight our own individual battles. We need the Lord to help us guard our heart from things that would influence us in an ungodly way.

How about relationships? This is the third one. This is a big one with teenagers and young people. Girls want their prince charming...guys want that perfect girl. So what do they do? They resort to the world's philosophy for finding a mate, and date. Now, I am not even getting into why I am against dating. The fact that it is a practice of the world should suffice here.

The point is, instead of guarding their heart, keeping their heart, and giving their heart to God so that He can send the right person at the right time, they run ahead, and many times give pieces of their hearts away. This is wrong. Not only does it cause them "heartbreak" in the present, but when they do find themselves married, it is unfair to their mate because they have given parts of their heart to other people in the past.

I speak from some experience, because even though I have never dated, I have given my heart. I look back with regret. I know I am forgiven by my Saviour, but should I one day marry, I will regret having given my heart to someone else other than my husband.

There are many other areas that we should guard our hearts in, but suffice it to say, if we give our hearts to God and ask Him to keep watch on it, we can save ourselves a lot of "heartache."

It isn't easy, but I firmly believe had I guarded my heart more closely when I was a child and teenager, I would not have as many regrets today. Yes, forgiveness is granted because of Jesus' shed blood, but I live with the consequences. Separation is still in the Bible, and it should still be in the life of the believer.

May God help me and others to keep our hearts with all diligence. God bless!