Walls vs. Guards

    The Bible tells us in Philippians 4:7, "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." The Bible tells us that when we attain peace in God it will help us guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. If we are content in what He has given us in the moment and not lusting after worldly things then guarding our hearts will be an easier task. The more we meditate on His Word the easier it becomes to recognize things that are ungodly causing our spirit to become more aware of the things that have the ability to pull us in the wrong direction. As we recognize this we see that He has given us the ability to resist those things. He doesn't just give us the ability to resist; he equips us as well meaning that he gives us the tools we need. He gives us resources so that we may not fall into the trap the enemy has set up for us. Hebrews 13:21 says, "May he equip you with all you need for doing His will. May He produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to Him. All glory to Him forever and forever. Amen." This means we have to think upon things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and whatever is admirable like it says in Philippians 4:8 so that we are glorifying God with every thought and action. 

    Now I am not saying we have to sit in church every single day; take communion every breakfast, lunch, and dinner; or say "Hallelujah!" every time you get through a light without it turning yellow. I am saying that if we are doing things that are not building us up in Christ but tearing us down then we need to catch it before we fall even further. You know what you can and cannot handle. If you struggle with drugs you shouldn't be putting yourself in a place where it is going to cause you to be tempted to do it again. The importance of guarding your heart is written in Proverbs 4:23: "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." In other words it determines the course of your life! If you are constantly putting yourself in situations that are not building you up then eventually you are going to fall. One choice can bring you into a whole new world of sin. Your mindset might be that you are only trying it and getting it out of your system now, but if we're not careful to run from it sooner than later then it's only going to be a matter of time. It's going to get harder for you to turn from those things. The road will be longer to get back to where you wanted to end up and if you stay there you're never going to reach the destination you wanted to get to.

    It is so very important to do this because things that don't seem like a big deal now can become one later on if we are not careful. Luke 6:45 ties into all of this telling us that: "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." Now guarding your heart is different than putting up walls. When we put up walls it makes it harder for us to love others. It can make us deaf to the things God is trying to speak to us. No matter how much someone hurts us we have to be able to forgive and protect ourselves from the threat of bitterness. It just makes it harder to let other people in and even God causing hatred. This will stop us in our tracks making it impossible to grow so that we may become the person God wants us to be. His purpose for us is to love one another like He loves us and we cannot do that if we are constantly worrying about being hurt by everyone. We need to forgive and forget like I have written before, but when it comes to forgetting we have to be wise in what we are letting in (that is when guarding your hearts comes into play). Discernment is an important factor in what action we are supposed to take in order to do that, but remember that forgiveness and love must also be present in everything we do. Love is the KEY factor in tearing down any walls that we have built up in our lives. If we can love like He loved us and stay in tune to what He tells us to do then He will work in our lives undoubtedly.