Head, shoulders, knees and toes… or heart, mouth, eyes and feet.

Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

No doubt, this is a powerful and well known scripture, and it’s true. We need to guard our heart. We need to be faithful stewards of our passions, convictions and desires. Besides that, it is important to know that our heart is another way of defining our identity. We act based on who we are, in our heart.

But I’m a practical guy. I love scriptures like this and I have quoted this one multiple times, but today something challenged me on the inside. Like the question,

How do we do that?

How do we actually guard our heart?

How do I take practical steps to walk this out in a way that makes sense in my everyday life?

Then I did what I’ve done so many times before, but didn’t catch. I kept reading. It seems the secret is found in the following verses and for some reason I had no idea.  

So, how do we actually guard our heart?

• Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Vs. 24

By watching what we say. I think it’s clear that what comes out of our mouths is an indication of what’s in our hearts, “for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). But it’s also important to remember that our brains believe our voice more than anyone else’s. Studies have shown that what we speak goes into our ears and registers in our minds and hearts. We take the words that come our of our own mouths more seriously than anyone else. So how do we guard our heart? We must guard our hearts by how we speak. 

• Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Vs. 25

It has been said that our eyes are the window to our soul. If this is true then that means whatever we see has direct access to our innermost selves. The eyes are direct access to the heart.

Through sight is also the place where distractions come. Thieves often use the art of distraction to keep you from seeing what they don’t want you to see, so that they can take advantage of you. Our enemy, Satan, wants to steal from us and he can destroy our hearts by affecting our eyes. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy” John 10:10.

Isn’t it interesting how we, today, are so consumed visually through social media. As you walk around stores and streets, all you see are people glaring and staring at their phones. Their gaze is consumed by someone else.

Maybe it’s not funny but there are reports of people getting hit by cars because they are crossing roads while looking down on their phone and are completely unaware of what is right in front of them.

We need to fix our eyes straight ahead of us and on what God wants us to look at.

• Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Vs. 26

This verse talks about our feet but maybe it is better understood as where we allow ourselves to go. Environment is a critical component to behavior. If you want to loose weight, going to your favorite all you can eat buffet is probably not the best option. Our behaviors tend to reflect our environment. If we are at a game, we cheer loudly for our team. If we are visiting the library we whisper quietly to each other.

Where you allow yourself to go is an indication of who you are or are becoming. So what direction we are going or whatever environment we have put ourselves in affects our hearts.

In the age of online church, it is more important than ever for believers to be together. It’s not just about hearing a sermon, but about being in an environment where who you want to become as a believer is reinforced by everything around you. “Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.” Hebrews 10:24-25

Our heart (passions, convictions and desires) is a form of identity. When people say, I know your heart, what they are saying is that they know who you are. This is why we need to guard our heart, because as believers, we need to reflect Christ. They need to know that it is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:27

We must guard our hearts and how do we do that? By guarding what we say, what we see, and where we go. 

What are your thoughts? Are there practical ways that we can guard our hearts based on Proverbs 4?