Guarding Your Heart

Proverbs 4:27

“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life”.

Last night at Converse our topic was “Guarding Your Heart”.  I think so many teens and people in general forget that if they aren’t careful about their actions, what they say or see, it becomes a part of them and has a major impact on their character as a person.

Back when I was pregnant with Dennon I remember reading an article about this woman who was talking about how she wanted her daughter to have integrity and be a compassionate person when she grew up. She stated that she must have integrity and be compassionate first if she expected those things of her daughter.

Ever hear that phrase, do as I say and not as I do? I can’t stand when people say that; how can we expect those around us or our children to be respectful, kind, attentive to other’s needs if we aren’t? I honestly believe that we can’t even begin to be that kind of person or good example for our children if we don’t first start with guarding our heart.

Luke 6:45

“The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart,

and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart.

For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks”.

This verse sums up the kind of person I want to be. I want to bring good to my life and the lives of others, but it’s not something I can just “do”. It’s something; I have to “be”...I have to be good on the inside to do well on the outside.  It’s scary to know that we’ve become so de-sensitized to the world, that we no longer get upset about a toddler in a movie saying the “F” word for a laugh or a billboard with a scantily clothed woman advertising a hotel suite, like you find in Las Vegas. Do we want our children to say the “F” word? Do we want our kids taking some half naked woman to a hotel suite in Vegas? What kind of messages are we sending to our kids if we agree with the world and propaganda that it’s trying to shove down their throats?  Our character is like the roots of a tree; we begin to grow deep in the things that we surround ourselves with and a corrupt tree cannot bring good fruit. So how can we be good people full of moral value and good character when we don’t even take part in those things in our intimate lives?

This is not an easy thing for me but it helps me to know that I’m raising a child who I want to bear good fruit and be an honest good person down to his toes.  To do that, my toes must first do the walking and this is an everyday battle. My heart already has a few “unpretty” things in it; I’m working daily on changing the things I’ve allowed to come into my life. 

"Watch your thoughts, for they become words.

Watch your words, for they become actions.

Watch your actions, for they become habits.

Watch your habits, for they become character.

Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny." -Lao Tzu

I had the kids cut this phrase out last night and told them to hang it somewhere that they would see it every day. Mine is on the mirror in my bathroom.  What things have you grown to accept and make a part of your daily life that you wouldn’t want anyone to know, that you wouldn’t want your children to do? Put a little pretty in your life by starting to be aware of what’s not.