Countless times in Scripture, Jesus spoke of the importance of keeping our heart clean and pure. It’s important to understand that the heart that Jesus was referring to wasn’t the organ that pumps blood to the rest of the body.
While it’s important to take care of your physical heart, Christ was referring to the importance of protecting the innermost part of who you are. Your heart, the part of you that makes you the person that you are is under constant attack by Satan. Protecting it is paramount.
Proverbs 4:23 (TPT)
So above all, guard the affections of your heart, for they affect all that you are. Pay attention to the welfare of your innermost being, for from there flows the wellspring of life.
Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, wrote the Book of Proverbs under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. While the book is full of tidbits of wisdom that can help us live Godlier lives, this particular verse is perhaps one of the most profound that Solomon or the other authors of Proverbs wrote.
To better understand the principles that Solomon was talking about in this verse, let’s consider a more practical analogy. Do you have a security system on your home?
Maybe you have one of those high-tech doorbells that allow you to see and talk to the person on the other side of the front door. Even if your home security system isn’t quite that advanced, maybe you have a more traditional one that sounds an alarm if anyone tries to break in.
The style of your home security system may vary, but the reason for having one is the same: you want to keep people who don’t belong in your home out.
Our hearts, our innermost beings, are very similar. While we may not have an alarm that sounds audibly when something that doesn’t belong tries to find its way in, the Holy Spirit serves as a sort of security system of our heart.
He understands that as God’s people, our hearts are under constant attack. With that in mind, He wants to work with us to help ensure that the only things going into our hearts are the things that God wants us to have in there.
If you have a physical security system on your home, it’s up to you to respond to it. If you hear the alarm going off and do nothing, that’s your own fault. If you see an intruder on a security camera, and choose to do nothing about it, you’re operating in error by not alerting the police.
In the same way, when the Holy Spirit warns you about something that is trying to infiltrate your heart, it’s your responsibility to heed His warning.
There is a battle for your heart, and every day, Satan does everything possible to infiltrate. While the Holy Spirit will alert you to these intrusions, it’s ultimately your responsibility to guard the home of your heart. But how do you do that? By applying the principles found within Scripture.
Store Up God’s Word in Your Heart
Psalm 119:9-11 (TPT)
How can a young man stay pure? Only by living in the word of God and walking in its truth. I have longed for you with the passion of my heart; don’t let me stray from your directions I consider your prophecies to be my greatest treasure, and I memorize them and write them on my heart to keep me from committing sin’s treason against you.
Perhaps the most effective way to guard your heart against the attacks of the enemy is to make sure that God’s Word has permeated the innermost part of who you are. David, the author of the 119th Psalm, knew all about the importance of being able to quickly access God’s Word.
When he penned these verses, it’s important to remember that he didn’t have the nonstop access to God’s Word that we have today. While he may have had a few scrolls that contained bits and pieces of Scripture, David couldn’t open his phone, tablet, or a physical copy of the complete Bible and access God’s truth for a given situation.
Instead, he had to hide God’s Word in his heart.
Being able to read Scripture any time we want to is paramount. However, it’s even more important that you’re taking the time to memorize Scripture. When we memorize something, it gets into the very core of who we are. That’s why David said that writing God’s Word on his heart helped prevent him from committing sin’s treasons against God.
Make sure that you’re not only reading Scripture, but that you’re allowing Scripture to truly get into the innermost part of who you are. Commit a certain amount of your daily Bible reading time to memorizing Scripture.
Doing so ensures that you’re writing Scripture on your heart so that you are less likely to sin against God. Consider it one of the best alarm systems that you can put on the home of your heart.
Build Your Own Neighborhood Watch
Luke 10:1 (TPT)
After this, the Lord Jesus formed thirty-five teams among the other disciples. Each team was two disciples, seventy in all, and he commissioned them to go ahead of him into every town he was about to visit.
Contrary to what you may have heard about being an independent person, Jesus never intended His followers to try to live the Christian life on their own. Instead, He has always been a God of relationship. In the Garden of Eden, God said that it wasn’t good for Adam to be there alone.
That’s why He created Eve. Thousands of years later, when Jesus was preparing the disciples to go out as forerunners for His public ministry, He didn’t send anyone out on their own. Instead, He paired every disciple with another disciple.
In the same vein, God wants us to be connected with other believers. Having healthy, productive relationships with other believers is one of the smartest things that you can do as a child of God. However, it’s important that you don’t only surround yourself with people who validate every decision that you make.
Instead, you should be surrounded by other Christians who have also written God’s Word on their heart. Think of it as a bit of a neighborhood watch around the home of your heart.
When you have people around you who can point out when you’re slipping into dangerous thoughts or behaviors, it’s less likely that Satan can invade the home of your heart. Build a solid network.
Setting the Ultimate Guard
1 John 1:9 (TPT)
But if we freely admit our sins when his light uncovers them, he will be faithful to forgive us every time. God is just to forgive us our sins because of Christ, and he will continue to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Finally, the most effective way to guard the home of your heart is to turn over the protection to God Himself. There’s nothing we can do about Satan’s plot to infiltrate our hearts. It’s what he does. However, it is up to us to make sure that his advances don’t make their way in. Unfortunately, there are times where we leave the door unlocked, and our heart becomes invaded.
Fortunately, the Bible promises us that if we confess our sins to God, He is faithful and just to forgive us. When we make a mistake and allow our hearts to become invaded, we can go to the Father and ask Him to restore order.
A Closing Prayer:
Father, I know that You are passionate about the home of my heart being a place of purity. I know that Your Word teaches me that what goes into my heart will be what comes out of me. Help me to guard my heart.
Give me a hunger and thirst for Your Word so I can guard my heart through the power of Your truth. Surround me with like minded people who seek You in everything that they do. In Christ’s name, I ask these things, Amen