Guard your Heart

Lately I have been contemplating on the one hand the love, wonderful devotion, and provision of God towards us, and on the other hand the seriousness of judgment and the punishment of God. God, in all His love, inclines Himself to us, to show us how much He loves us and how much we are worth to Him. "Since you were precious in My sight," "therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you" (Isaiah 43:4 and Jeremiah 31:3). 

On the other hand, God shows us His judgment and lets us realize that He hates and punishes sin. God’s Word also shows us that anyone who does not accept His offer of grace, or rejects it consciously, is lost forever. By His word and the Holy Spirit He sets both before our eyes, that we may see His love and understand the earnestness of our salvation, because it is about eternity.

Let's imagine we would go to a doctor, and he would make a terrible diagnosis, for example a heart condition, but in order not to frighten us, the doctor would tell us nothing about it and send us home in peace. Or, he would downplay everything and then dismiss us. Would it not be foolish of this doctor? Surely we would not want to have such a physician. He would even make himself punishable and put the patient's life at risk. It is only because the doctor informs us of the seriousness of our disease that we know he values us and cares about our well-being.

Each of us is concerned about our life and maintains it carefully, because it is the highest thing we have. In essence, the perception of well-being in our lives depends on our health. One of the key aspects of health is our heart health. Our heart is the central, life-giving organ of our body and therefore the most important. It is naturally of great importance for our health and well-being to have a healthy heart. But God's Word also speaks a lot about our heart, and puts it at the center of our spiritual life. Solomon says, “For out of it spring the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23).

God's Word differentiates our natural heart from the spiritual and gives us this comparison: just as our natural heart is the life-giving organ of our body, so the spiritual heart is the central focus and the seat of our soul.

The whole Word of God and the Holy Spirit are designed to address our heart. God makes every effort to win our hearts in order to be the center of our lives and to govern us from the heart. Jesus meant this heart when He said this to His listeners: “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:8-9).

The heart of man is tainted by sin. Every human being is born in sin, and with every additional evil deed, a person accumulates more intentional sins upon himself so that his heart is polluted, requiring a renewal, conversion, and cleansing. Through sin, man is separated from God and there is no heart connection between God and man. Therefore, man absolutely needs a renewal of the heart. Precisely for this reason God promises that those who turn to Him will be given a new heart, replacing the old heart which is damaged and stained by sin (Ezekiel 36:26).

In the heart, pure and impure thoughts can be cultivated, along with various desires, stimuli, and cravings. Jesus said, “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man” (Matthew 15:18). Our hearts can also be bound by certain things, because Jesus also said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21).

The new heart that God gives us should be protected with all diligence. It must be preserved from sin, impurity, and every evil influence and action. How can we do this?

We are not in the position to maintain our spiritual  lives by ourselves, for God is the Giver of life, and He alone can maintain our spiritual life. But we can do our part with all diligence. Satan wants our heart, the seat of the soul, in order to conquer and destroy it. But since he cannot have direct access to our heart, he uses certain channels by which he reaches our hearts.

One of these channels is “what we see.” What we see, of course, affects us the most, so we should definitely pay attention to it. Much of what we see can influence us positively or negatively. Now, more than ever, our eyes are offered all kinds of things in order to entice us and awaken a desire in us, affecting our heart. In most cases, the purpose is to entice those by what is shown them. A minister once visited a juvenile prison and to his question why one or another young person acted so brutally, so terribly in his deed, most of them answered: “I saw in a movie ...” What they saw influenced them. They traded reality for fiction, and acted out what they had seen.

What we should first look to, however, is Jesus Christ. We should look up to “the author and finisher of our faith” – Jesus Christ. Jesus is the best example for us in every conceivable respect. Furthermore, we should look up to the spiritual role models in the Bible and follow their example. These models will influence us positively. 

Another way to our heart is “what we hear.” What we hear also greatly influences our heart. Some of what we hear may discourage us, provoke us, or arouse in us thoughts of anger or revenge. That which should not be repeated is happily shared with the request not to repeat it further. Because we are greatly influenced in this way, it is an ideal method for Satan to reach our heart. But God's word also shows us what we should be hearing. When the voice of God came down from heaven, God said: “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” (Luke 9:35). A child of God can learn to hear and know the voice of God in the midst of all the clamor of this world. And Jesus calls those who hear His voice, and do it, His brothers and mother: “For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother” (Matthew 12:50).

What we feel can also be like a channel to our hearts. It may happen that certain bad or negative emotions heavily impact our hearts. For example, we strongly feel insults, indignities, humiliation, contempt, and this greatly influences our heart. It inhibits our inner joy and dulls our gratitude and joy in serving God. Another serious damper for us may be disappointment of some sort. How it hurts when you are sorely disappointed! But despite all this, God’s word encourages us and says, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4).

“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23). May God give us the strength and the grace to do this.

Alexander Gross, 

Eppingen (Germany)