Dwight Fletcher | Guard your heart

SOME OF us are constantly haunted by something in our lives which seems to constantly assault us and we seem unable to escape its influence. We want out of it, but can’t find peace. It’s as if it’s eating away at our lives, we’re not at peace, but can’t quite figure it out. Sometimes we even see it and know it’s there, but can’t seem to address it directly.

It may seem that if that issue is solved that it will bring peace, but it doesn’t happen. This is because sometimes our issue is that we have a wounded, troubled, and traumatised heart. When this happens, we have to work on it internally and not externally.

No matter how we try to solve this problem externally it won’t solve the inner problem of peace. When there’s something wrong on the inside, we often try to use something external to stop it. We go shopping, socialise, or do some other activity to perk up ourselves, but the lift is only short-term. Proverbs 14:13 (NLT) tells us that “Laughter can conceal a heavy heart, but when the laughter ends, the grief remains.”

In the Bible, the condition of our heart is critical to the quality of our life. Our physical heart is the most important muscle in our body. It provides all of the nutrients and oxygen we need to live by sending blood to all the parts of our body. In this way, the physical heart is extremely important to having a good life.

Similarly, the Bible teaches us that the condition of our ‘spiritual’ heart is just as important. The heart is the very centre of a person’s life. It’s the most vital part of our being and the centre of our soul. If our heart isn’t well, the rest of life will not be well. That is why the Scripture says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life”. Proverbs 4:23 (CSB). The condition of our heart should be the first and primary concern for every person because if it dries up or is contaminated, the rest of our life will follow suit.

A wellspring is a source of continual supply. In the same way our physical heart is the source of life for our physical body, so is the inner heart the source of life for our inner self. Whatever is in our heart is going to affect our life. Therefore, it’s important to guard what’s in it because the things that are there will become the controlling factors in our daily lives. “A good man brings good things out of the good STORED up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil STORED up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” Luke 6:45 (NIV).

Our heart is a repository of what has happened in our lives and if we don’t find a way of handling the negative things that have happened, they will end up lingering in our hearts, overflowing in our life and can destroy us. Just like a bank, what we put on deposit in our hearts will eventually be drawn out and spent in our daily lives.

If we have a wounded heart and those wounds are not handled, they fester and give rise to all manner of issues. “But you, Sovereign Lord, help me for Your name’s sake; out of the goodness of Your love, deliver me. 22 For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.” Psalm 109:21-22 (NIV).