In this interesting article, we will discuss a beautiful and important verse in the Bible, found in Proverbs 4:23 . Let us reflect on it, on the importance and wisdom of guarding our hearts.
The wisdom of Proverbs 4:23
On this occasion we bring to share, the wisdom from above kept in the beautiful word of Proverbs 4:23. This word of God tells us to take care of and protect our hearts, but this care goes beyond the physical type:
Proverbs 4:23: Above all else, guard your heart , for everything you do flows from it.
Our Heavenly Father encourages us to guard our hearts, because it is an important and focal place in our identity as children of God. Just as, in our new life in Christ, it is necessary to follow this order so that the purpose that the Father established in the Lord for everyone who follows him is fulfilled.
So then, it is important to know in depth the reasons why God asks us to take care or guard our hearts. From now on we will develop certain aspects that can be extracted from this wise word of God in the book of Proverbs.
If you want to grow in God's wisdom, we invite you to read about the Book of Proverbs : Chapters, verses, and more. This biblical text is found within the poetic or wisdom books, following the Book of Psalms.
The authorship of Proverbs by tradition has been attributed to King Solomon after God granted him an understanding heart full of wisdom. As well as other wise men who collaborated with portions of texts written in the book of wisdom.
How to have a heart according to God's?
When we decide to follow Christ, subject to Him, our life experiences a metanoia and is therefore transformed. It is necessary to go through the process of transformation to be able to go on the path of having a heart according to Christ's that is equal to God's.
This heart loves, trusts in the Lord and fears God; as much as possible, live his experiences from the strength of the spirit and not in the weakness of the flesh. This is how the apostle Paul tells us, in order to live in the Spirit that was given to us through Christ Jesus:
Romans 8:11: And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus lives in you, he who raised Christ will give new life to your mortal bodies through the Spirit of God who lives in you.
Only in this way can we live as children of God, in obedience to the Lord and being guided by the Holy Spirit.
Romans 8:14: For the children of God are all those who are led by the Spirit of God.
When we come to the feet of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit of God takes control of our lives. His Spirit penetrates our souls, cleanses our consciences, gives us a new heart and with it we appropriate the beatitudes of the Lord:
Matthew 5:8: God blesses those who have a pure heart , for they will see God.
Other versions translate this verse saying happy and blessed are those who have a clean conscience. And it is that conscience is the knowledge of thoughts, feelings and acts, it enters through the mind, from there it goes to the heart, then it comes out through the mouth for life or for death, the word says:
Proverbs 4:23b For from him springs life.
God's instruction in Proverbs 4:23
According to the above, it is necessary to keep our own conscience clean so that it can only be filled with the thoughts of God. In this way we put our hearts at the service of the Holy Spirit.
With this, God blesses us by revealing to us the mysteries kept in his word. And if our thoughts are the thoughts of God, only the rivers of living water contained in them can come out of our mouth.
From our mouth then life will spring, as our spirit receives the instruction and direction of God. Instructions that will reach our clean conscience, a clean heart and thus be able to know how good, pleasant and perfect the will of God is.
Knowing the apostle Paul all this he was already praying for us. In the same way we must do it for all those who still do not have this knowledge, Blessed be the will of the Lord!:
Colossians 1:9: Since we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. And we always ask God to grant you knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that comes from the Holy Spirit.
When you pray, we suggest you read about the Christian prayer of faith , a gift of eternal life. We know that many people are going through difficult times and need to believe in something that fills them with hope.
Discover with us in this article why the prayer of faith in the Bible is a very important prayer for Christians, as well as the meaning it has for their lives. The Lord in Proverbs 4:23, gives us the instruction to guard our heart before guarding anything else, because something good or bad can come out of it. And depending on what we have in it, that is what we are going to give.
How can we guard our hearts?
The best way to guard our hearts is by staying alert and vigilant at all times. If we do not keep our spiritual senses awake, the spirit weakens and the flesh gains strength, the apostle Paul tells us:
1 Corinthians 16:13: Be always on the alert , but trust in Christ . Be strong and courageous.
Doing this prevents the possibility of opening a loophole in us so that the evil one can launch one of his darts and contaminate our minds. This leads to the hardening of the heart, making room for roots of bitterness, anger, anger and all feelings contrary to the fruits of the Spirit.
Ephesians 4:20-24: 20 But this is not what you learned about Christ! 21 For you heard the message about him and know how to live as he commands, following the truth he taught. 22 Therefore, you must no longer live or conduct yourselves as you did before, when evil desires controlled your way of life. 23-24 You must be completely transformed in your way of thinking, and be truly honest and holy, as befits people whom God has remade, to be like him.
The strategies to follow
So, what would be the strategies to follow to keep a heart clean, healthy and protected from the deceitful tricks of the enemy the devil? Here we mention some of them:
- Treasure the word of God.
- Pray always.
- Study the word of God, grow in your knowledge.
- Put the word of God into action.
- Choose relationships and friendships well, not establish unequal yokes in our lives.
- Put a brake on any distraction that diverted our gaze from Christ.
- Ask for help from the right people built on the knowledge of God.
- Protect ourselves with the armor that God has given us.
Learn here about the armor of God : What is it?, its meaning, how to use it? This is the spiritual garment that our Heavenly Father gives us so that we can resist and overcome the attacks of the devil.
Life flows from the heart
In order for life to flow from our hearts, it is necessary to pay attention to leading a life of holiness. This does not mean that we are perfect, but it does mean that we follow the perfect one who is Christ, this is our reference to live a healthy life in justice and righteousness.
We must therefore guard our behavior, guard our interior that translates into thoughts, feelings and emotions. All this begins in the heart, depending on what we deposit there, it will affect our lives for better or for worse.
However, God in his infinite love and eternal mercy always takes care of us. And when he sees that we stray just a little bit, he leads us back on the path, he guides us through the Spirit of him that comes and reproves us.
But, for this we must be well grounded in the word, in the faith of Christ Jesus and in communion with God the Father. His advice will come in a timely manner so that we can know his will and obey it.
That is God's desire, that we be built up and exercised in the spirit. Because in the same way that our physical body grows and develops in health, so must our spirit, as the scripture tells us:
3 John 1:2: Dear brother: I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, both physically and spiritually.
Such a request is because precisely in the spirit is where we accumulate throughout our lives, everything that God wants us to be transformed from our old nature. It is this transformation that allows the power and light of God, who is Christ Jesus, to penetrate our spirit to cleanse us of all contamination of death and fill us with eternal life.
Proverbs 4:23: Understanding What is the heart?
In order to understand the spiritual meaning of God's instruction given in Proverbs 4:23. It is necessary to understand what the heart is as a physical part of the human body.
The heart from the physical concept, is an organ of the human body that if it stops working, death ensues. This physical organ has as one of its functions to circulate blood flow throughout the human body.
As long as this function is fulfilled by the heart there will be life, but the heart also maintains a connection with the soul and the spiritual through the mind and thoughts. If this connection is not cared for or kept, spiritual death can occur.
This death the apostle Paul tells us is allowed by being in ignorance of the knowledge of Christ Jesus. Because without this knowledge we cannot have the life that He offers us:
Ephesians 4:18: Their minds are full of darkness ; they wander far from the life that God offers , because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts toward him.
So for the heart to maintain a healthy spiritual life flowing in us, it is necessary to feed it with the thoughts that come from God. Thus our mind will be in light, close to God and walking towards the eternal life that He offers us in Christ Jesus.
Above all things guard your heart, the Lord tells us in Proverbs 4:23. Keep it, take care of it, he tells us, because spiritual life flows in it, the one that connects you with me and with the eternal life that I have for you.
This is the life that the Lord wants to flow from us for those who still remain in ignorance. Let us then guard our hearts and manifest Christ with our conduct and proceeding.
Proverbs 4:23: The spiritual components of the heart
The heart organ physically has two sides, which is why it is common for us to hear about the right heart and the left heart. The interior of the heart in turn has four parts or cavities, two of them on each of its sides.
The upper chambers on the right and left sides of the heart are the atria, while the lower chambers on each side are the ventricles. Both the left and right sides function like two hearts in perfect coordination, and they are separated by thick muscular walls.
Oxygen-rich arterial blood flows through the heart or left side, and oxygen-poor blood from the veins flows through the right side. Just as the physical heart is constituted and designed, so is the spiritual one; divided into two parts, one that connects to the spirit and the other to the soul.
Both hearts, both physical and spiritual, their main function is to purify. The first purifies the blood and the second cleanses the spirit. Having said this, we will now see the components of the spiritual heart in accordance with those of the physical.
ventricles and atria
The four internal cavities of the physical heart are the atria and the ventricles, through which the blood circulates. The left atrium and left ventricle deal with oxygenated blood, the good blood.
The right atrium and ventricle deal with deoxygenated blood, bad blood. However, this side has a very important function and it is to direct or lead the blood to the lungs; where the bad will be removed and you will receive a reoxygenation.
The same happens with the spiritual heart, it has a carnal atrium and ventricle that deal with everything that comes from our soul. As well as a pair of spiritual atrium and ventricle that deals with our spirit and everything that comes from God.
In this spiritual side of the heart, the Lord in his original design impressed his laws protected by a conscience that comes from God. It is this side that connects us in common union with God and through this conduit the life of the spirit flows throughout our being.
Hebrews 10:16: – The Lord has said : This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days: I will put my laws in their hearts, and write them on their minds . –
Therefore, in the spiritual heart, the bad that comes from the world and the good that comes from God can circulate.
Matthew 15:18 (JBS): But what comes out of the mouth comes out of the heart itself; and this defiles man.
the conscience of the heart
The consciousness of the spiritual heart that God in his original design deposited in the human being throughout life is undergoing changes. The Adam nature that we bring at birth carries with it sin, wickedness, and unbelief.
All of this characteristic of the Adamic nature produces changes in the consciousness of the spiritual heart. She hardens becoming insensitive, being necessary to circumcise her when we come to Christ.
This way it can be cleansed and therefore our hearts will be transformed in the spirit:
Deuteronomy 10:16: Circumcise your hearts by putting off your pagan attitudes and ceasing to be stubborn,
Titus 1:15: Those who sincerely obey Jesus Christ consider everything to be good . But those who do not obey or trust in him consider nothing to be good; they only think about what is evil, and their conscience does not pity them.
All this unbelief causes thick veils to form that cause spiritual blindness in people, preventing them from seeing or knowing God. Plus its original design is that we were created to see and rejoice in our creator.
Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God, so that when there is a conversion of heart in us, Christ manifests himself and we can see him.
2 Corinthians 3:15b-18: 15b Their hearts are veiled , and they do not understand. 16 But when someone turns to the Lord, the veil is removed . 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 So all of us, with unveiled eyes, see and reflect the glory of the Lord . The Lord, who is the Spirit, makes us more and more like him as we are transformed into his glorious image.
