{"id":892,"date":"2012-02-12T09:00:15","date_gmt":"2012-02-12T15:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/?p=892"},"modified":"2012-01-20T23:28:30","modified_gmt":"2012-01-21T05:28:30","slug":"guard-your-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=892","title":{"rendered":"Guard Your Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The heart is at the core of our physical existence.\u00a0 We can live without a foot, leg, arm, hand, gall bladder, ear, eye, or even brain function, but without a heart \u2013 we die.<\/p>\n

The heart is also central in reference to emotions, illustrated by these idioms.\u00a0 When we eat our hearts out, we are envious.\u00a0 Our heart breaks when we are sad.\u00a0 We lose our hearts when we fall in love.\u00a0 We follow our hearts when we are happy.\u00a0 From the bottom of the heart means sincerity.\u00a0 The cold hearted are unforgiving.\u00a0 When we pour out our hearts we are telling others how we feel.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

God talks a lot about the emotional heart from a spiritual perspective.\u00a0 At times it can be difficult to know and rule our hearts.\u00a0 We are emotional beings who can easily be led astray by our feelings.\u00a0 That\u2019s why God says the heart can be deceitful and wicked. (Jeremiah 17:9)<\/p>\n

God knows our hearts better than we know ourselves. (Hebrews 4:12, Matthew 9:4) \u00a0We can pretend we feel a certain way but eventually our hearts reveal our true attitudes.\u00a0 A good heart will bring about good for others.\u00a0 An evil heart will bring about bad for others.\u00a0 The truth will always come out.\u00a0 Our words eventually belie our true intentions.\u00a0 (Luke 6:45)\u00a0 We will put time, money, and effort into where our heart is.\u00a0 (Matthew 6:21)<\/p>\n

Evil thoughts start in the heart.\u00a0 It is here the thought process can lead us to be prideful, foolish, envious, stubborn, rebellious, and lustful.\u00a0 (Mark 20-23, Hebrews 3:8)\u00a0 However, it is also in the heart where we can have love, hope, compassion, and forgiveness. (Romans 5:5, Matthew 18:35)\u00a0<\/p>\n

A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy can rot the bones.\u00a0 (Proverbs 14:30)\u00a0 A cheerful heart is as good as medicine to heal, but a crushed spirit brings us down.\u00a0 How we feel guides what we do.\u00a0 That\u2019s why God says to guard our hearts.\u00a0 Our hearts determine how we live our lives.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAbove all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

(Proverbs 4:23, NIV)<\/p>\n

How does one guard a heart?\u00a0 Proverbs 23:7 says we become what we think about in our hearts.\u00a0 So it might benefit us to dwell on the positive aspects of life, not the negative.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFinally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable \u2013 if anything is excellent or praiseworthy \u2013 think about such things.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

(Philippians 4:8)<\/p>\n

Sometimes we use the phrase \u201cto get to the heart of an issue.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s what God would like to do with us.\u00a0 Get into our very hearts and live His life within us.\u00a0 God wants to be a part of our lives.\u00a0 When we seek Him with our hearts desiring a relationship with Him, He readily makes Himself available. (Deuteronomy 4:29)\u00a0 With God in our lives, our hearts are much easier to guard.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The heart is at the core of our physical existence.\u00a0 We can live without a foot, leg, arm, hand, gall bladder, ear, eye, or even brain function, but without a heart \u2013 we die. The heart is also central in … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}