You’ve read proverbs 4:23 that tells you to guard your heart with all diligence, but how do you actually do that? Today, I’m going to give you 5 practical things you can do today to start guarding your heart.
Put God’s Word in your heart every day.
Psalm 119:105 in the NKJV says Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
When you put God’s word in your heart and apply it to your life you will make sure you are walking in the light ( See 1 John 1:7) and setting your heart upon the right path.
When I started reading my Bible on a regular basis as a baby Christian, I started to have wisdom about situations I found myself in. I used to make my decisions based on my feelings and emotions, but now I am more apt to make decisions from the wisdom I have fed on from the Word and from prayer.
And speaking of prayer, another way you can guard your heart with all diligence is to:
Pray Psalm 139:23-24 regularly.
It says:
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting. (NKJV)
And when you pray that, if God does bring something to your mind that you need to ask forgiveness for, ask Him.
You can pray something like this:
Lord Jesus, I ask forgiveness for______________, and I ask that you would help me not to sin in that area anymore. I want to walk according to your Word and I need your help.
And remember what first john 1:9 says:
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (NKJV)
Forgive quickly
Forgiveness is another way you can guard your heart with all diligence.
Hebrews 12:15 says, See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many (NIV)
Forgive quickly so that you don’t give the devil a foothold (See Eph 4:27) in your life and fall into hatred and bitterness which will leave you stuck in the trap of the enemy.
I know how hard it is to forgive. If you know any of my story, you’ll know I suffered at the hands of another for a long time, and that God brought me on healing journey, and that journey included learning how to forgive the unforgivable.
What I learned, is that when I let go, it gave me freedom. It did notghin for the offenddr, but I was able to walk free, not letting them or what they did have a hold on me anymore.
Forgive quickly and surrender any grudges to the Lord.
Rember that to forgive doesn’t mean we don’t set boundaries
I have used this example many times, but I’ll say it again, one of my teachers in Bible college said, I forgive the person who stole my wallent, but I don’t leave them alone with my wallet again.
Just because you forgive, does not give that person a right to be in your life again if they have not changed. Forgiveness is not an open door for more abuse.
Using boundaries is an important way to guard your heart with all diligence.
The next way to guard your heart with all diligence is to guard your lips.
Proverbs 13:3 says Those who guard their lips preserve their lives, but those who speak rashly will come to ruin. (NIV)
Guard what you are talking and speaking about to yourself and to other people. Guard your heart by not entering into conversations which leave you feeling down, disturbed or like you’ve betrayed someone’s trust.
Which brings me to my last point
Guard your thoughts:
2 Corinthians 10:5 says, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (NIV).
When you dwell upon negative thoughts that just come into your mind,you are feeding that into your heart.
So, When those negative thoughts come, replace them with the word of truth.
If you struggle with negative thinking, pick one negative thought you wwant to turn around, find a scriptuer by going to site like blueletterbible.org and search for a scripture that speaks God’s truth instead of that negative thought.
You might even want to memorize that scripture.
Every single time that negative thought comes, say that scripture out loud, even if it’s just under your breath.
These are just 5 ways that you can guard your heart with all diligence. If there are other ways you have used to guard your heart, let me know in the comments or send me a message. I’d love to know how you guard your heart and how it’s had an impact on your life.
This episode was inspired by my Bible Study Healing the Father Wound.
