I was on a social media site for veterans the other day and a person posted Proverbs 4:23 NKJV “Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.”
This is such a great verse and it received a lot of attention. One veteran asked a very important question:
“Any biblical scriptures on how to guard one’s heart?”
I love this question!
So Mark 7:14-23 says:
“When He had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear Me, everyone, and understand: There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!” When He had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable. So He said to them, “Are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?” And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.””
So let’s look at these verses, in the 1st part Jesus says it’s what comes out of a man that defiles him and then He says “if anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!”
Why is that important? Because it tells on your heart. If you’re hard hearted then you are hearing impaired and your batteries are dead. What gets a person into that condition? Look at the last 2 verses…unrepentant sin…all of those are different acts of sin.
Even the disciples had a hard time understanding what Jesus was saying and He explained it further to them. You see, asking questions is important and being prepared to hear is even more important. Again, look at the last 2 verses and lets talk about them for a second.
Jesus said it’s what comes out of the heart of a man that defiles the man. That out of the heart of man proceed evil things, so how do we change this?
Change what we allow into our hearts.
Philippians 4:8 NKJV says “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”
So in layman terms what we’re talking about here is changing your power of association, which is simply the people and things you surround yourself with each day. So lets use adultery as an example. Take a married man and surround him with “buddies” that talk bad about their wives all the time and make excuses for their adultery and soon he will fall to the same temptation as his “buddies.”
Take the same man and surround him with “buddies” that love their wives the way Jesus loves the Church and soon he will treat his wife the same.
Same man, same heart, different inputs and different outputs.
It’s not complicated. Lets start with protecting our spiritual eyes and ears which are the thoroughfares to the heart. If you don’t want it coming out of your heart then don’t let it in. Take some time and evaluate your outputs that seem to garner the most criticism from people who are the closest to you and the outputs that you don’t like yourself.
Write them down and keep them in front of you each day for a week or two. As each day goes, write down the things that happen that cause you to do an output on your list. At the end of the week sit down and go over your lists and see the correlation between them.
You should be able to clearly see the cause and effect and begin to eliminate or change the inputs behind the cause. Let me give you an example:
A married man watches multiple mature TV series, each of them with strong sexual content and adultery. Over time what he sees on TV begins to look more exciting and attractive to him than what is happening under his own roof. He then starts noticing the women that he works with and in very little time, he’s giving one or more of them the attention that he was giving his wife. Next thing you know, they’re having an affair. Now, this affair will turn into multiple affairs because he is relating the excitement he gets from these shows to the excitement he desires in his life.
Here on lies the problem, TV isn’t real life. It’s a 2 hour or less fictional depiction of what some depraved mind wants you to believe is true. Let me ask you is there any stealing going on here?
YES! The devil has gotten into a crack in this man’s armor and stolen from him his marriage and all that goes with it. Not only has he stolen from this man, but he has stolen from his wife and kids. And this becomes his legacy, one that will most likely change many more lives for the worse than just these.
The normal reaction is to make excuses for what happened but when it comes down to it, the man failed himself, his wife, and his kids by not recognizing and refusing a trick of the devil.
II Corinthians 10:3-6 NKJV
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.”
Remember, this is a spiritual battle. Even though your flesh “wants” this or that, your heart, your spirit man, has to be in charge. Our weapons in Christ are mighty and they allow us to cast down arguments, they allow us to cast down every high thing, and they allow us to bring into captivity every evil thought. In short, we can say, in Jesus name, to the devil to shut up and leave me, because these evil arguments, things, and thoughts are from him.
We have authority in Jesus as believers. What a gift God has given us!!!
Matthew 28:18-20 NKJV
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Romans 8:14-17 NKJV
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs-heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
There are many more verses expressing our authority in Jesus’ Name, too many to list here.
Take time and go through the Proverbs. I did a search for the word “mouth” in Proverbs and found that there are 50 verses pertaining to the mouth.
In Psalms there are 67 with the word “mouth.”
In the Old Testament there are 324 verses and the New Testament has 71. Search them out and read them and you will begin to see that the Lord has given us a wealth of teaching on this. We need only seek it out and take it to heart and we will begin to see the Love of God and the fruit thereof begin to manifest in our lives.