Guard your heart

HOW often have you related with someone over a long period and then discovered after a while that the person is not really who you thought they were. It does not matter how much a person may try to cover up or pretend, the contents of the heart will always surface. This has often happened and I have been perplexed as I’m confronted by this relative stranger whom I thought I knew. The answer to this puzzle is found in the scriptures and I will share my understanding on this phenomenon. There are many scriptures about the heart and its condition but I find these two most insightful.

Luke 6: 45

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth the good. And an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

Jeremiah 17:9-10

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it.

I Jehovah search the heart, I try the reins, even to give each man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doing.

The natural heart is the organ that pumps blood around the body and it is not this heart that I will refer to. It is the figurative heart that is the topic of discussion. This heart is the centre of the emotions especially love, courage and spirit. This figurative heart is the central or most important part and it is what is commonly referred to as the “heart of the matter”. So important is the heart that several English idioms have been coined about it.

• When one greatly desires something it is said “they have set their heart on it”.
• Causing someone grief is to “break someone’s heart’.
• Committing something to memory is to “learn or know something by heart”.
• Cruel and unkind people are referred to as being “heartless”.
• When something is substantial, nourishing, friendly, enthusiastic it is referred to as being hearty. Hence you can have a hearty meal or hearty laugh.
• Situations of great sorrow are “heart rending”.
• A very attractive man is a “heart throb”.
• An intimate conversation is referred to as a “heart to heart”.
• As one suffers intense emotional anguish they will often say that they are suffering from “heartache”.

The physical heart is an essential part of the anatomy that is the source of life. Should the heart fail or stop the body dies. Likewise the figurative and spiritual heart is also extremely important to one’s emotional, spiritual health and wellbeing. When the figurative heart is diseased or broken it affects everything. A case in point would be someone who suffers a broken relationship, divorce or death of a loved one, as the figurative or spiritual heart has suffered some form of trauma, it would be fair to say the heart has been broken. Persons who are usually jovial and balanced can suffer behavioural changes as a result of a broken heart.

The condition of the heart, whether good or bad, will have a direct bearing on the speech and actions. All words spoken come from the heart. If I want to know the contents or conditions of a heart I listen to the words that are spoken.

Scriptures clearly state that the thoughts and the intents of our hearts spill out of our mouths. “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks”. A diseased, sick heart will have diseased, negative speech whereas a bitter heart will spew out bitter words. An unforgiving, unkind, unloving heart will speak nothing but unkind words. Conversely, a good, gentle heart will speak gentle words.

This understanding of scripture helped me understand the different types of people that I confront in the course of life.

The Bible further exhorts us to guard our hearts as out of it spring forth the issues of life. Proverbs 4:23 states — “Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life”.

The condition of the heart is very important and therefore must be kept as healthy as possible. It is very important to understand how one can guard the heart so that there can be good things that flow out of it. How fitting that the scriptures should use a military analogy of “guarding”.

Guards are sentries, soldiers on watch who will stand at the gateway of a military barrack and decide who enters and leaves. No unauthorised persons can enter or leave a military barrack.

This infers that the heart has gateways that allow traffic into the heart. It is this traffic in and out of the heart that affects its health. From my experience I have learned that the two major gateways of the heart are the gateways of the eyes and ears. It is on this understanding that we deploy sentries to guard these all important highways.

The gateway of the eyes — what we look at, watch and see affects our hearts. Information comes through the eye gate, is processed in the mind and eventually ends up in the heart. Once in the heart the information either builds up faith or pollutes the heart. The level of faith built up or the level of pollution will be manifested by the words spoken. When God wanted to confirm to Abraham that he indeed would be the father of many nations in his old age, He decided to affect Abraham’s heart by using the gateway or highway of the eyes. God instructs Abraham to go out of his tent to look at the stars of the sky. It is in looking at the millions of stars that the message of faith reached his heart. Once the message had gone into the eye gate and reached Abraham’s heart, he could start talking about it and thinking about it.

Genesis 15:5 — And He brought him outside and said, Look now toward the heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them. And He said to him, so shall your seed be.

Proverbs 23: 7a.“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he . . .”

On the other hand those who fill their eyes with images of ungodly, filthy things, fill their hearts with the same. The fruit thereof is disaster as they begin to speak and spill out the contents of their heart which are filth, swear language, gossip and unwholesome talk. One wonders what the effects on the heart are of the pornography and striptease shows that people are continuously feasting their eyes on are going to be.

The Gateway of the Ear — words are spoken to us continuously and can have either a positive or negative effect on us. Sometimes as believers we have no idea the effect that our words have on others. Proverbs 18:21 states that “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it shall eat the fruit thereof”.

It is therefore important that we guard the gateway of the ear jealously. Have you ever noticed that your day can be moving quite smoothly until someone throws a few negative words your way that change your otherwise jovial mood and rob you of your joy. The gateway of the ear can bring life or death to your heart.

We are all aware of relationships that have been broken because of words spoken. Hearts have been shattered and wounded, lives and faith have been either built up or destroyed because of what we allow into our ears.

It has been said that a child that lives in an atmosphere of constant criticism and belittling, grows up to lack confidence and struggles as a result, because of the negative words continuously spoken to them. However, this does not negate constructive and correction that come our way which should be gladly received and embraced, this is easier said than done.

Romans 10: 17 “So then faith cometh by hearing . . .” If faith can be obtained through hearing so can fear, doubt, unbelief, anger, discouragement, despondency and depression. Be very careful what you allow into your ears. Place diligent sentries at the ear gate to ensure that what you hear is positive and will result in a healthy heart and spirit.

Don’t be an enigma that is difficult to understand, rather work on the health of your heart and your spirit. I once had the very rare an honoured privilege of sitting at the feet of Bishop Eunor Guti, a great woman of God who serves in the ministry alongside her husband Apostle Ezekiel Guti.

During this short time I asked what great lesson she could share with me concerning her success in many years of ministry. She told me very plainly to have “one face”. When I was alone and for many days thereafter, I pondered what this great nugget of wisdom could possibly mean. I realised that what she told me as a matter of fact, was that as a Christian leader there was no room for hypocrisy. What I am in private should be what I am in public. It also dawned on me that I should ring true, be true to myself. What is in my heart should be what I display to the outside world. I should have one face and not present a charade in public and yet my heart and private life are something else.

Many believers are very concerned about image building, this is because they are afraid that the contents of their hearts are not in keeping with the Christianity they profess. Hence, the fall and disrepute of many professing Christians.

“Guard your heart for out of it flow the issues of life”.