So I was having this discussion with a good friend of mine...
What does it really mean to guard your heart when it comes to love and relationships?
Proverbs 4:23 says, "Above all else guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." (in context-a proverb about pursuing wisdom and why pursuing wisdom is so beneficial)
I think that I used to believe that guarding my heart meant putting a big iron gate around it and only those people with the right key could get in.
I think that now I believe that guarding my heart means when God tells me to go no further in a relationship, He means it. That is a concise meaning I realize... What do you all think? email me or post a comment. I am curious. :-) Yes Tiana... I said it... I am curious. :-)
Uh huh, we are all in trouble now! When ever Melissa starts a conversation with I am curious about... you know you are in trouble as she sees something in you that is not exactly perfect.
ReplyDeleteBe of great rejoicing she is not trying to guilt you or condemn you, but desires to see you grow and to become more like Jesus. It is really a good thing to have a friend who will point you to Him. I count it a joy to have my vision and my life corrected by you, mel.
hmm. well i'm still working out what it DOES mean but i can tell you it surely does NOT mean to sit around in 'play it safe mode'. i think of guarding my heart as keeping it undividedly devoted to a jealous god. that might vary significantly within the sphere of human relationships but i say, get out there and take some risks! god never guaranteed us a life free from discomfort and sacrifice.
ReplyDeleteOK, since this is coming from me. . . you know what to expect. If you could read Proverbs 4:23 in the Hebrew, you would find a full translation of it would be something like this: "Above all the things in the world that are precious and worth guarding, the one thing you most need to stand guard over is your heart."
ReplyDeleteSo, the question becomes "Guard it from what?" The basic rule of Bible study is "Context, context, context!" The paragraph of which Pr. 4:23 is a part makes it clear that our heart needs guarding from those things, including people, that would distract it and divert it from walking in the path of the Word of God (see especialy the last two verses of chapter 4).
Since the two great commandments are to love God and to love people, guarding our heart in relationships does not mean shutting them off from compassionate involvement in the lives of those around us. However, we need to make sure that our love for people does not become a distraction or diversion from the relationship we have with the Lord. As those of us in ministry know, even the ministry itself can replace adequate time nurturing our relationship with Christ. Sadly, most ministry moral failures start when that mistake is made.
Thus, each one of us has to work our for ourselves the unique way we need to guard our heart in love, in relationships, in materialism, in selfish ambition, in the need to be always right, etc., from being distracted by other good and precious things that are not the best thing: our relationship with Christ.
I love you, my wonderful daughter, for your great probing heart and its questions.
Dad
ummm... can i just say ditto? I too think it DOESN'T mean to shut out everything and never take risks - that's not gaurding your heart either. From a biological perspective I always thought it was a cool verse because we do have to take care of our physical heart, too - it is also a well spring of physical life... but of course that is probably not what the writer was getting at...
ReplyDeleteFour years ago, I have began a meditation on that same question. Of course, I'm still meditating on it. Mostly becuase I view the question over again with each relationship with friends, family, dating, and marriage. For me, I am struck more by the view of it towards emotional boundaries. I don't believe that guarding your heart is putting a wall up to people, but more of pouring you heart out to the Lord for His safe keeping. It is that entrust to Him and the direction of His Spirit that I believe protects the precious heart. At times, it may involve risk and being excrutiatingly uncomfortable and at other times it may be a sanctuary of what is comfortable and familiar. It is a constant excercise in me to keep handing my heart to His safe keeping, and I don't think I will ever learn enough to where I'll need to stop.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if that really answers the question, but it is what has been digesting within me for a while.