Matters of the Heart

Proverbs 4:23 says "above all else, guard your heart, for it is the well-spring of life." You guessed it, tonight I want to share with you about guarding your heart. It's kinda easy to see why God wants us to guard our hearts. I think that many of us have been hurt by someone we loved before. Obviously God doesn't want us to be in pain from being hurt. That's exactly what he's talking about, right? Well not exactly. One of my favorite quotes from C.S. Lewis goes like this "Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable." Can you see where I'm going? If you love someone, they will let you down at some time or another. But that doesn't mean God is telling us to stop loving, to not let anyone in. On the contrary God tells us many times to love one another. So if "guarding your heart" doesn't mean holding back the love, what does it mean?

Basically it means to be selective with how intimately you love someone or even something. When you're in a relationship of any kind with a guy, it's a good idea to be careful with your heart. Don't just let yourself fall in love with him or just rush into it. Take your time, seek God's will first, and if it is God's will press on in the relationship. But still exercise caution. I mean, would you really wanna fall in love with 12 different guys before you find who God really has for you? Do you wanna put yourself through that much pain? On the contrary, I HIGHLY encourage you to be very careful and try your best not to fall in love unless you are sure he's the one. It's hard, I know. So many girls do the whole "fall hard, break up, cry a lot, get over it, and repeat" routine now-a-days. But do you REALLY wanna go through that?

Another reason to guard you heart is that it's harder to resist someone when you're in love. When you fall in love with a guy it's easier to make excuses like "well we're only doing this because we're in love." Well you may be in love but does what you're doing line up with the Bible??? I don't mean to step on any toes but being in love does not make you an exception to the rule. AT. ALL. And don't fall for the line "well if you love me you'll do this." If he loves you he won't go there. Guard your heart, because the more in love the harder it is to say no. Jen and I were talking the other day about how much harder it is to resist when you are in love. My youth pastor told us once that his wife's father got STRICTER on their dating when they became engaged, and with good reason. It became harder to say, I've gotta go, the closer they came to being married. So sisters, I encourage, please guard your heart!!!!!!!!!! You deserve God's best! I love the saying "dance with God, he'll let the right man cut in." Let God guard your heart, and you will be in safe hands!

Love In Christ,
Kat