Your Heart

Proverbs 4:23

New Living Translation (NLT)

²³ Guard your heart above all else,
for it determines the course of your life.

Brace yourself; it's about to get real.

Once upon a time, I was fifteen.  I had many great Christian influences in my life telling me to "Stay pure! Stay pure!" so I did.  Or at least, I kept my virginity, which I'm sure is the same thing.  Except, this super cool and charming guy did come into my life and turn it upside down. That's an understatement; although I was still physically pure, I gave him everything I had emotionally. I fell hard.

Taylor Swift has this awesome, whiny, girly song called "Fifteen," and if you have any extra time on your hands, you should look at the lyrics, because they are unfortunately pretty accurate. Basically, the song discusses how, when you're young, you want to be wanted so badly that you will give everything you have to someone. You feel like you've got it all figured out until things change. In the end, you're left with nothing but tears and a messed up heart. That guy that I fell for so hard? Well, he brought me disappointment and heartache that I had never even imagined to exist; I still have to deal with emotional consequences that came with that "relationship," even now, years later.

Proverbs 4:23 tells us that we should guard our hearts, for it determines the course of our lives. Before our minds, before our bodies, before anything else, we need to make sure our heart is guarded. That's a pretty big deal! When I was young, I used to take pride in "wearing my heart on my sleeve." I thought it was a positive characteristic of mine that gave me better chances of finding true love. When your heart is on your sleeve, however, it isn't being guarded.

Some people may wonder what is so wrong about having an unguarded heart.  Other than the fact that God tells us to guard our hearts, it surely can't be that big of a deal.  Maybe it will cause a bit of heartbreak, but hey, they say it's better to have loved and lost then never to have loved at all, right?  Well, let me put this into perspective.  True love won't break your heart. It always protects. In fact, God has given us a pretty good description of true love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-13.  If you're married and your spouse passes away, then yes, I believe it is better to have loved and lost then to have never loved at all. However, if you give your whole heart to someone who throws it away somewhere down the road, then that's not true love, and it's not worth trading your pure heart for a broken one.

Once we realize the importance of guarding our hearts, the next step is to determine how we can go about doing that.  Maya Angelou once said, “A woman's heart should be so hidden in God that a man has to seek Him just to find her.”  When we deeply burry our hearts in Christ, they cannot be broken. The same goes for men; having a relationship with Jesus needs to come before finding a relationship with a female.  God will never hurt you or forsake you. If you give Him your heart, He can protect it until the right person comes along.

There are four Greek words for love: agape, philia, eros, and storge. Storge is a natural fondness due to familiarity; philia is the love between friends; eros is romantic love; agape is unconditional love. Although we are commanded to have agape for one another, we must refrain from being reckless with eros. As long as we give God our whole hearts, we have nothing to fear.

Therefore, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life that determines the course ahead of us.  Love (agape) your neighbor, your enemies, and everyone in between, but don't let yourself love (eros) just anyone who comes your way. Keep your heart completely hidden in Christ, so that it can be truly protected from anyone who will try to hurt you and remain pure for the one who won't.

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