‘Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.’ (The Bible–Proverbs 4:23)

It would require more than a complete lifetime to fully grasp the wisdom found in the Proverbs. Fortunately we can glean some of the wisdom found there with just a little focus. We begin our August exploration of the Proverbs with Proverbs 4:23. Please take a moment to read it again. Read it slowly one phrase at a time. Above all else…guard your heart…for everything you do flows from it.

Whether we realize it or not, most of the things we do in life flow from our inner beliefs. We don’t always act in harmony with what we SAY. We don’t always act in harmony with our PLANS. But we nearly always act in a way that reflects our inner beliefs, our core beliefs. I think that with rare exception, people behave in a way that’s consistent with what they believe. Someone long ago put it like this: Belief determines behavior. Sure, we sometimes choose to act in a way that goes against what we believe. But this produces an uneasiness in us. We recognize our inconsistency. We say, ‘That’s just not me.’ ‘That’s just not who I am.’ But the sad truth is that often it’s exactly who we are. And that bothers us even more. Let’s address the content of the Proverb.

• It begins with a warning. Above all else, guard your heart. The word ‘heart’ does not refer to the muscle in our chest that pumps blood. It refers to the essence of the self. The center of our total personality. It refers to who we are at core. The real you. The real me. When we say that someone has a ‘big heart,’ we mean they’re generous or kind. That’s their personality. When we say someone has ‘heart,’ we mean they care. It’s their personality. We often contrast the head and the heart when we speak. We say, ‘His head told him to go ahead, but his heart had the final say.’  We understand well enough that our actions are more likely to flow from our heart than from our head. Even when we respond seemingly from the head—it’s really our heart’s desire that spurs us into action.

• So the Proverb says that we should guard our heart. And we should guard it above all else. But why? The answer comes in the next phrase…For everything you do flows from it. Our heart is the motivator if not the determiner of our actions. It’s the deciding factor in whether we go or stay, whether we continue or stop, whether we buy or sell, whether we work or rest.

• If our heart (our inner emotional and true self) is what motivates us to do what we do—then how very important it is that we guard that heart. Mostly we must guard our heart from harmful beliefs. Remember, we act out of our core beliefs. So by guarding the heart, we shield it from harmful beliefs. But what are harmful beliefs?
  • Beliefs that are not true about ourselves
  • Beliefs that are not true about others
  • Beliefs that are harmful to others
  • Beliefs about the world that are not true
  • Beliefs about people that are not true

• It’s really quite simple. If what we do flows from our heart—our inner and true self. If our heart believes what is not right, or not true, or not helpful, or not beneficial—then our ACTIONS will reflect the same. We guard our heart so we will act out of what is right and true and good.

The other day I was on the phone with a computer technician, trying to resolve a computer issue. At one point the technician had me type in my screen name so we could share the screen for the diagnosis. But there was no response. And it made me angry and frustrated. The technician said, ‘Why don’t you double check your screen name, you may have typed it incorrectly.’ I thought to myself, ‘Yeah, right, a name I’ve typed 1,000 times is incorrect!’ But I looked anyway. Sure enough, I had typed it incorrectly. OOPS! The fact is, the computer was responding PRECISELY to the command I gave it. And sure enough, we nearly always respond according to the way our heart commands us. That’s why it’s so important to guard your heart above all else….for everything you do flows from it. 

Now that we’ve gotten to the heart of the matter, take heart. Have a heart with others. It will do your heart good. Cross my heart. And by the way, this would be an excellent Proverb for you to learn by heart.

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