Guard Your Heart
Last week, my husband and I were doing some yard work. In addition to running into a slithering beast (gasp), we did some major weeding. We had not cleaned out flower beds in quite some time, so as you can imagine, it was quite a task.
I have several rose bushes in my back yard. Weeds had grown all around them. Some of the bushes had so many weeds around them that they actually started growing up through the bush. The weeds were so large and numerous that they began to choke the life out of my beautiful rose bushes. A few of the bushes had bloomed, but you could not appreciate their beauty because they were covered by weeds.
As I was pulling the weeds up, Holy Spirit began to speak to my heart.
Seeds of bitterness, anger, unforgiveness, resentment, disappointment, guilt, shame, and condemnation are sometimes planted in our hearts. These seeds may have been planted by the enemy, life’s circumstances, or even words from people that we love. In some cases, weeds have grown from these seeds and have choked the beautiful life of abundance that Christ died on the cross for us to have.
What does it mean? The bible tells us that the enemy comes to kill, steal, and destroy, but Jesus came so that we could have an abundant life of peace and joy. These weeds have come to choke out and hide the beautiful gifts that God has placed on the inside of us to share with the world, and to rob us of the peace, joy that is ours through the blood of Christ.
As William and I continued to pull weeds, we noticed that some weeds were so intertwined with the flowers that you could not tell the weed from the flowers in some cases.
Sometimes these weeds have been a part of our lives and our hearts for so long that we don’t even recognize that they are there. All we know is that something is not quite right.. a little off. Maybe it’s the way we respond to others, maybe it’s the way we view others. Whatever the case is, we need Jesus to change our hearts.
The bible instructs us in Proverbs 4:23 to guard our hearts because everything we do flows from it.
The bible also says in Luke 6:45 “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.”
If we allow these weeds to take root and set up camp in our hearts, then this is what will overtake our lives. They will overtake how we think, how we respond, what we say, and how we treat others.
I want to encourage us all today to guard our hearts. Allow all of the beauty that resides on the inside of us manifest on the outside. Fill our hearts and our minds with God’s truth. Reject the lies of the enemy and don’t allow them to take root in our hearts!
The way we view others is dependent upon the lense that we are looking through. If the lense of our heart is clean and pure, that is the way we will perceive others. If the lense of our heart is not clean, that is the way we will view and treat everyone we come in contact with.
Let’s guard our hearts today. Let’s be mindful of what we are allowing to enter our ear gates and eye gates, and what we are allowing our minds to ponder upon. Let’s rid ourselves of any weeds that may currently reside there. If you are not sure if there are weeds in your heart, ask God to show you. He is faithful and will show you every time.