You always see the verse Proverb 4:23*, but what does it really mean to guard your heart and how does it affect you? Be very mindful of what is going on in your thoughts. You very well know that words have power to lift up to encourage or to tear down to destroy. Pay attention to the type of thoughts and dialogue going on in your mind.
Some things to ask yourself: Are they positive? Are they negative? Do they line up with the character of God? Is it fear based? Is it anger based? Is it rage based? Is it frustration based? Basically, what is the theme of most of your thoughts. Start there.
Your thoughts will shape you into who you are. Who are your thoughts shaping you to be? Is that person Christ like? For anything negative, ask Holy Spirit to help you break free from agreements you have made that keep feeding you in unhealthy ways.
The way you think affects your decision making. As an example, any fear based agreements you make will result in fear based responses and decisions. Taking care of your heart is taking care of the welfare of your innermost being. Your life flows from this place called the heart. It all starts in the mind first. Thoughts come in, you make agreements, and then based on what you came into agreement with affects your heart. Once it affects the heart, it effects your life. What course is your life set on right now? Does it need a course correction?
Essentially, your thoughts control your life. This is another great reason to make sure you are reading and speaking out scripture daily. The living word of God is sharper than a double edged sword (Hebrews 4:12*). Cutting everything off down to intentions and motives. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says: ”we pull down every proud obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God; we take every thought captive and make it obey Christ.” It’s important that you command every thought in your mind to come captive to the obedience of Christ. Speak this over your mind daily if you need to. Break agreements with the root of the repetitive negative cycles of thoughts in your mind. This is the reason that Satan attempts whispers. He already knows if you make an agreement with the whisper then it will brew what is necessary to start destroying you.
So pay attention because whispers are not always like a voice when two people speak in the natural; though it can be for some people. Many times it comes in a like a thought. So especially if a thought comes in and it makes you think, “wait! Why am I thinking this?” Or “wait! This isn’t like me to think that?” Or “whoa! Where did that come from?” That right there is a whisper of the enemy. Satan throws the whispers in high hopes that you will agree with that thought or those cycles of bombarding thoughts. If he knows the power of agreement so much, how much more should you as a believer in Christ be more aware of it?
Read the living word of God and fill your thoughts with good things. Things that are worthy to be thinking about. It says in Philippians 4:8 “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”
So examine your thoughts. What direction is it going? Bring correction where it is needed in your thoughts. Remember, the thoughts you are having is the beginning of who you are becoming. So if you want to be more Christlike, then you need to have more Christ like thoughts bombarding your mind. If you are not thinking of things that are excellent and worthy of praise, then it is time for you to take an honest review of your thoughts with the Holy Spirit. Invite the Holy Spirit into this process and let your self be set free and course corrected.
It is time to fully set your mind on the things above(Colossians 3). Be sure that your attention is directed in the right place.
*“Guard your heart above all else,
for it determines the course of your life.”
-Proverbs 4:23
*”For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.”
-Hebrews 4:12
*Read Colossians 3
“What you say can preserve life or destroy it; so you must accept the consequences of your words.”
-Proverbs 18:21
“3 We put a bit into the mouth of a horse to make it obey us, and we are able to make it go where we want. 4 Or think of a ship: big as it is and driven by such strong winds, it can be steered by a very small rudder, and it goes wherever the pilot wants it to go. 5 So it is with the tongue: small as it is, it can boast about great things.
Just think how large a forest can be set on fire by a tiny flame! 6 And the tongue is like a fire. It is a world of wrong, occupying its place in our bodies and spreading evil through our whole being. It sets on fire the entire course of our existence with the fire that comes to it from hell itself. 7 We humans are able to tame and have tamed all other creatures—wild animals and birds, reptiles and fish.
8 But no one has ever been able to tame the tongue. It is evil and uncontrollable, full of deadly poison. 9 We use it to give thanks to our Lord and Father and also to curse other people, who are created in the likeness of God. 10 Words of thanksgiving and cursing pour out from the same mouth. My friends, this should not happen! 11 No spring of water pours out sweet water and bitter water from the same opening. 12 A fig tree, my friends, cannot bear olives; a grapevine cannot bear figs, nor can a salty spring produce sweet water.”
-James 3:3-12
