We are bombarded with all sorts of negativity on a daily basis. If we are not careful it can affect our hearts and the way we view life and others. The Bible has much to say about our heart’s condition and the importance of guarding it.
Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. Proverbs 4:23
According to Strong’s Concordance – Heart: (inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding..)
According to Strong’s Concordance -Diligence: (place of confinement, prison, guard, jail, guard post, watch, observance..)
According to Strong’s Concordance – Keep: (to guard, watch, watch over, keep,
1. (Qal) 1. to watch, guard, keep 2. to preserve, guard from dangers…)
The scripture tells us that we are to guard, keep, and protect our hearts with diligence. The word diligence in the above context means that the heart should be watched like a prison guard making sure that it does not escape from being protected. The heart needs to be watched continually because as powerful as it is, it can also be easily influenced and be penetrable.
The heart is the seat of our being. It is the place where the love of God and the love for others reside. It is the place of passions, intentions, and desires, but it is also the place where hatred and hardness can develop. People can get disappointed, angry, or disillusioned, or they can be joyful, hopeful, and optimistic.
When we look around us there is so much hardness of hearts. This problem does not just apply to some people out there most of whom we don’t know, but it is in our communities and in relationships such as marriages, parents and children, siblings, neighbors, coworkers, church members, etc. I don’t think people decide one day to have a hardened heart. It is something that happens gradually, hence, the necessity to guard our hearts.
This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men. Acts 24:16
One of the ways that our hearts can get hardened is through offenses. As we near the end of the age, people will be lovers of themselves. Selfishness will cause offenses and hardened hearts. If all we care about is how we feel or how something impacts us, it will harden our hearts, which in turn will bring about offenses in those around us. Those offenses will eventually develop barriers between us and others. Our love valve will shut down and our hearts will get hardened towards others. Selfishness and offenses go hand-in-hand, and they produce the fruit of hardened hearts.
Apostle Paul had the wisdom to know that he needed to keep His conscience clear from any offenses. If he were to hold on to offenses, his spirit would have been polluted and his heart would have been hardened. Then he would have had to just go through the motion of ministering to others without a heart of love and compassion towards them. He would not have been able to sacrificially give of himself to build up the people and the churches.
It is interesting to me that in the divisive climate that we are in, people can get offended even when you are on their side and see things from their point of view. The point is that we can find ourselves easily offended or we can offend others. Everyone seems highly sensitive and by claiming they feel judged, they win the argument these days.
Jesus was able to keep His spirit pure throughout His earthly ministry. On the cross, He asked the Father to forgive the people for they did not know what they were doing. Jesus knew the power of forgiveness. To keep our hearts from being hardened by the pollution of the world and from the offenses, we need to be willing to forgive people on daily basis and release them into the Lord’s hands (See Matthew 6:9-15– The Lord’s Prayer).
How is your heart condition!? Are you harboring any offenses today? Offenses hurt the offended more than anyone else and cause hardness of heart. Guard your heart from being hardened and make it a priority to not allow it to get polluted by offenses. If it is too difficult to release the offense, ask for help and pray with someone about the issue.
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