I'm reading through Proverbs right now, and have been thinking about the significance of the following verse in living as Christ's disciple:Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life. Prov 4:23
"Heart in Proberbs regularly refers to the center of one's inner life and orientation to God, from which a person does all thinking, feeling, and choosing. Taking words of wisdom into the heart is vital, and wisdom's presence in the heart is worth guarding because out of the heart flow all the thoughts and words and choices of a person's life." - from the ESV Study Bible
"The heart commonly refers to the mind as the center of thinking and reason, but also includes the emotions, the will, and thus, the whole inner being. The heart is the depository of all wisdom and the source of whatever affects speech, sight, and conduct." - John Macarthur
If the state of our heart is so significant in living out the Christian life, how seriously should we take the call to watch over our hearts with diligence?
I've been contemplating the application of that command - any thoughts? What does it mean to watch over our hearts, and what are some practical ways that we can do this?
2 comments:
I think watching over our heart means having it in the right place to start with. Our heart needs to be filled and focused on Christ! I like what you have writen from the ESV Study Bible, there is some godly wisdom there, that "out of the heart flows all the thoughts and words and choices of a person's life", so true and even more evidence on why our heart needs to be saturated in Christ and His teachings! God bless you Stephanie and your heart!
Good thoughts, Kaitlin, I agree with you! Trying to change on our own effort is exausting, and doesn't really work in the long run...we need to soak in the Word and look to Christ, who is the only One who can change us from the inside out.
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