Originally Published: June 24, 2019

One question that I’ve been struggling a lot with recently is this: What does it mean to guard your heart? This question is super important to me because apparently, I’m not very good at it lol. I am very much a feeler by nature and tend to wear my heart on my sleeve…for better or worse.

Throughout scripture, it is evident that how we approach matters of the heart and what we allow inside our hearts has a huge impact on our lives! Guarding your heart is so important because everything you do flows from it!

Watch over your heart with all diligence, 

For from it flow the springs of life.

– Proverbs 4:23 –

The things we choose to entertain in our hearts and minds ultimately decide the course of our lives! 

To me, this truth is kind of scary… It makes me wonder: What things am I currently allowing into my heart and my mind? How will these things affect my future?

What’s more, scripture also says that our hearts are deceitful, which makes me feel like they shouldn’t be trusted… But if we can’t trust our hearts, what can we trust?

The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, 

and desperately wicked.

Who really knows how bad it is?

– Jeremiah 17:9 –

o, it looks like if we are going to learn what it truly means to guard our hearts, there are two important questions we have to ask:

In an effort to keep from overwhelming you, (since attempting to answer both of these questions in one blog post would likely turn into the equivalent of a ten page paper haha) I’ll only be answering the first question in this post. You’re welcome ;).

What do you think? Should we follow our hearts?

Flying Blind

“Follow your heart” – seemingly the mantra of every Disney movie ever made – may seem like a nice thought, but is this truly a wise mindset to adopt?

A while back I was doing a reading plan through the YouVersion Bible App taken from Levi Lusko’s book Swipe Right.And let me tell you, not only was this devotion convicting, but I had a “knock you off your feet and leave you speechless” kind of moment. It blows my mind how God speaks to us in such simple ways and yet it always seems to happen when we least expect it! Because this devotion was so impactful, (and because Mr. Lusko says it way better than I ever could haha) I decided to copy and paste it below:

Following your feelings can lead to disaster. Blindly following your heart is a really bad idea. Our most noble achievements, and our most tragic mistakes, all come from the same exact place: the human heart.

Just like a pilot needs instruments he can trust, you need objective indicators for your soul. Your feelings aren’t irrelevant; they just can’t be the lord of your life. Monitor them, but don’t trust them. Rather, run them through an objective filter, so that even when you feel like doing wrong, you can spot the danger and choose to avoid it.

We need the Word of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit to guide us. The Word of God keeps us from being fooled by the haze of our emotions and prevents us from being ruled by every thought and desire. God’s rules are there for a reason—not to kill your joy but to enhance it. He has so much more in store for you than you could ever know. But to get there, you must relinquish your desire to navigate on your own, lest you lose your way. When you put your trust in the instruments God has given you, you set yourself up to soar. 

– Levi Lusko –

(Emphasis mine)

Following your feelings can be pretty dangerous business. Imagine for a moment that you are a pilot. You’ve been trained to check your instruments in order to ensure that your plane remains parallel to the earth. Why are they so important? Well, no matter how much you may feel like your plane is horizontal and safely heading in the right direction, without your instruments, there’s no way for you to know if in reality you are plummeting towards the earth to your doom.

What it all boils down to is this: trust.

Are you choosing to trust your feelings, striving to navigate life on your own, or are you choosing to trust the Lord, utilizing the resources he has provided so that you can live life to the fullest?

We have to have an objective filter for our hearts. And what is that objective filter? Yep, you guessed it, God’s Word! After all, how can you expect to live the abundant life God has called you to by ignoring the very book that holds the key to that life?

Dig deep into God’s word, commit your ways to him, and eventually your desires will align with his (Psalm 37:3-5). Seek counsel from those you trust. Don’t discard your feelings, but couple them with wisdom and truth. And remember, your feelings aren’t irrelevant, your desires aren’t insignificant, and your heart isn’t to be locked up never again to see the light of day. In fact, the exact opposite is true.

Your feelings are valid.

God knows the deepest desires of your heart and cherishes them.

Guarding your heart doesn’t mean shackling it in chains, but rather living in the freedom that comes from surrender.

I want to leave you with one last quote. Think of it as a letter from the Lord, written to you, his beloved child.

Waiting on me yields alignment with me. It produces greater trust in my will with believing that it is ok for you to not know what is ahead so clearly. You know that I see, and you trust that it is ok for you to trust my sight, my heart, more than you trust yourself…

I will protect your heart as you stay close to me, take risks, and head into what feels dangerous and unknown. This world is dangerous and you have a helper, you have a helper in me.

– Loop –