The Bible Tells Us To Watch Over Our Hearts "Above All Else." Here Is One Big Reason Why Our Hearts Matter Plus Four Steps To Help Us Tend To Them
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Last week I shared the advice I would most want to give my 18-year-old self (which is the same advice I’d give to my present-day self). If you missed it, you can read (or listen) here, but in a nutshell, my advice was this: Pay attention to your heart.
This advice is more than inspirational pop psychology, it’s a command straight from God’s Word. Proverbs 4:23 instructs us: “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life” (NASB).
The New Living Translations says it this way: “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”
One big reason paying attention to our hearts is so important is because our direction is determined by what’s in our hearts.
When we allow bitterness, fear, or striving into our hearts, we head down a path that leads us away from God and His plans for us. On the other hand, when we fill our heart with all that is good, pure, and lovely, we journey deeper into relationship with God and we are able to more fully express the good work God has given us.
Paying attention to our hearts matters. But how do we do it, exactly? As promised in my previous post, this week I’m sharing four practical steps you can take to connect to and attend to your heart:
1. Find a quiet a place and listen.
Depending on your life season, finding a quiet space might be a challenge, but carving out some time of silence and solitude is essential for connecting to your heart. This is because paying attention involves listening. And it’s extremely difficult to listen when you’re surrounded by the hustle and bustle of everyday life, just like it can be hard to listen to a friend when you’re seated in a noisy restaurant full of conversation and loud music.
So even if it’s 15 minutes while you’re lying in bed before you go to sleep, or a few minutes sitting in your car on your lunch break, or a walk around the block with your dog, try to find a place where you can be quiet and listen to what your heart is saying.
2. Pay attention to your emotions.
The heart is the seat of our emotions, and our emotions provide vital information about the state of our soul. Once you’re in a quiet place, here are some questions you can ask yourself to help you tune in to this part of your heart:
How am I feeling?
Am I stressed, worried, irritated, angry, etc.?
Do I feel connected to God or distant?
What am I longing for or desiring?
3. Pay attention to your thoughts.
In addition to your feelings, you want to listen to your thoughts. All our thoughts flow from beliefs we hold in our hearts. So what we’re thinking can tell us a lot about what’s going on in our hearts.
Here are some questions to ask to tune in to your thoughts:
What have I been thinking about lately?
Who have I been thinking about?
You can also often find out what you’re thinking by exploring what you’re feeling. If feelings of worry, fear, anger, etc. arose while asking yourself about your emotions, take some time to reflect on and pray about what thoughts are attached to those emotions. You can ask, "Why do I feel _____?" For example, Why do I feel worried? Why do I feel angry? Somewhere beneath those feelings will be a thought or a belief.
During a recent heart check, I realized I was feeling overwhelmed and stressed. As I brought these feelings to God, I asked, “What thoughts are connected to these feelings?” What surfaced was this belief: If I don’t make it happen, it’s not going to happen. I felt stressed because I believed I needed to make a certain goal happen but knew I couldn’t make it happen on my own.
When I uncover such a thought, I’ll then ask God this: “What truth do you want me to replace this thought with?”
When I asked this question concerning my belief that I must make it happen, I didn’t hear a response immediately. But later in the day, this verse came to mind: “Not by might nor by power but by my Spirit says the Lord” (Zech. 4:6). How freeing to remember that it’s God’s Spirit that brings about change and success in our lives, not our own strength or striving!
If I hadn’t taken the time to pay attention to my heart, my wrong belief would have remained unchallenged, and the resulting stress would have remained unaddressed.
4. Forgive, repent, and follow God’s leading.
As you take time to reflect on your feelings and thoughts, make sure you invite God into the process. Hold your heart open before Him, exposing whatever you find to His light. Trust He will reveal anything you need to release that might be harming your heart.
If feelings of hurt or anger come up, take the time to forgive those who have hurt you. If wrong beliefs come up, take the time to repent for believing something about God, yourself, or others that is not true.
Remember also that it’s during these times of attending to our hearts that desires and dreams surface. When we’re surrendered to God and living in relationship with Him, it’s often through these desires that He leads us. Perhaps as you listen to your heart, you find a desire to sing, or garden, or teach, or rest. Talk to God about those desires. Take them seriously. They may just be the turn signal guiding you to the next section of God’s good path for you.
The heart is a big topic, and I plan to write more about it sometime soon. In the meantime, I would love to hear your thoughts. What is your biggest question about our hearts? What is your biggest challenge in connecting to your heart?
Let me know in the comments or message me here!
In purpose and faith,
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