Proverbs 4:23 NLT
Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
What does it look like to “guard your heart”?
When we guard our hearts, we pay attention to and draw boundaries around what we allow to go into our minds.
What we allow into our minds will eventually go into our hearts, and this will determine our actions that lead to the circumstances that we find ourselves in.
In the computer programming field, they use the term GIGO, which stands for “garbage in, garbage out,” it can also mean “good in, good out.”
We need to pay attention to what we allow to go into our minds; this is vitally important in our spiritual growth.
If all we allow to flow into our minds is garbage, it should not surprise us when our circumstances are chaotic.
The TV news, reality TV, the political talk shows both sides right and left, all of them have one purpose: To sell advertising.
The more eyes that they can get to watch a show, the more they can charge advertisers for the sole purpose of getting you to spend money.
They have got this down to a science; they get you to an emotional state with a controversy of some sort, and then they cut to commercial.
I listened to conservative talk radio from my mid-twenties to my mid-forties; I listened to them every day. Until one day, I realized that I was angry all the time.
So I stopped listening, and after a while, I found myself not as aggravated and angry.
Here’s what the Apostle Paul says:
Philippians 4:8 NLT
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
When we fix our minds on the truth, not according to what we think, but from the Word of God, our lives will change by the hand of God.
If we feed our minds with the garbage that is broadcast on TV, we shouldn’t be surprised when our lives are in chaos. The sources to pay attention are not only limited to TV but include radio, music, social media, family, friends, and co-workers.
We should remove all voices that do not help us move to where we are going. And our destination should be to becoming more like Jesus.
We need to have voices that challenge the strongholds of the thinking we have that do not glorify God.
We need to have trustworthy, sincere, honest believers who can speak into our lives.
Hebrews 10:24 NLT
Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.
Paying attention to what we allow into our minds is guarding our hearts.
2 Corinthians 10:5 NLT
We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.
When we start to pay attention to our thoughts and begin to feed our minds with the truth, and remain open to the changes that the Lord wants to make in our lives, our circumstances will start to change.
Psalm 139:23 NLT
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Heavenly Father, I thank You for Your Word. Let it dwell richly in my mind, shaping my heart for service.
I pray that You continue to work in my heart and that my thoughts, attitudes, and actions glorify You.
Please give me the Spirit to serve others and the courage, strength, and capacity to accomplish Your mission for my life.
In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray, Amen!! 🙏❤️
