Guard your heart and mind

My two favorite books of the Bible are James and Proverbs.  The reason for this is because these books are filled with pieces of wisdom.  They are practical books for how one should live their lives.  While obviously the rest of the Bible is incredibly important in order to learn about the set up for Jesus, how Jesus lived, and predictions for the future, I really enjoy these books of the Bible giving advice on how best to love others and how to make wise decisions. 

There was a verse in Proverbs that I most likely have read, but have never given much consideration until recently.  This is Proverbs 4:23 which says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” I absolutely love this verse now.   This verse reminds me of another quote that I really enjoy that is by William Wadsworth which is “Your mind is like a garden.  Your thoughts are the seeds.  You can grow flowers or you can grow weeds.”  

This quote and verse remind me of each other even though they are talking about two different body parts, they are both talking about the two most vital organs when it comes to influencing the rest of your body.  The reason is both your brain and heart help you make decisions, including life-changing ones.  These are also the two the body parts that help lead the rest of your body in either positivity or negativity. 

There has always been a saying of guarding your heart, whether this be in dating, making friendships, and/or activities that you participate in.  However, I never thought about the reasons why someone should be concerned about guarding their heart.  It isn’t just to feel better, but it is also because your heart is the main source for everything that you do.  This is usually because what is usually what is in your heart is also what you are thinking about on a regular basis, and then the thing that will impact a good deal of your actions.   It is so much harder to do tasks when you are filled with anger, regret, guilt, shame, and jealousy, as opposed to working with joy, kindness, humility, peace, and love.  

When we choose to let negative and ugly things be the only thing that enters our minds and hearts, then there is not a lot that we can expect to come out of it.  We can only really expect that negativity and ugliness to start taking root in our hearts and minds that then will grow weeds. Weeds are always hard and a pain to get rid of especially if you let them keep growing or become thistles.  Weeds are also always popping up, so we do just need to be conscious of the continuous bad thoughts that try to pop and grow in our minds and heart.  Therefore we need to make sure that we guard our heart and mind from these negative weeds that can take root and leave us negative all over.  

When we get rid of the weeds, this allows flowers and plants to grow easier.  Similarly when we get rid of the weeds in our mind and we continue to guard our heart and mind, we are able to have the flowers in our mind grow.  This includes our positive thoughts and increase of self-esteem.  It is also important to remember that flowers are not just pretty to look at, but they also provide nectar to multiple insects and continue to keep many ecosystems alive.  Those flowers that we create in our minds can in many ways also help us create a better place in the world.

My word of the year is Freedom, and this is important in regard to this verse.  The reason that my word of the year is Freedom is because I want to live my life free from anxiety, from fear of displeasing others  and fear of failure.  I want to live for the Lord with my complete heart, body, soul, and mind.  This verse and quote, while it does not talk about freedom specifically, it does talk about guarding your heart and mind away from things that could ultimately lead you the opposite from Freedom.  

The best example that I can give in my own personal life is my struggle with anxiety.  I have mentioned this in previous blogs before.  However, that struggle with anxiety was a really big thing for me for a while.  I still give myself a lot of problems with self-doubt, especially as I have been completing my first year of teaching.  I often am so scared of messing up and making the wrong decisions that I have sometimes caused myself to be sick this last year.  (I went to the doctor because I was on the verge of getting a stomach ulcer from both a lot of stress and a bad antibiotic).  I am definitely not protecting my heart from my own negativity, and this is leading me to a dark place.  I have actually decided recently that I am going to go back on my anxiety medication.  I am not saying this because this is a way to get attention, but I am willing to admit I needed help again.  One of the ways that I want to protect my heart and my mind from my anxiety is through giving myself the medication that I need in order to prosper.  If you ever feel as though you are in a similar spot, there is no shame in that.  Do what you need to get rid of your weeds and to guard your heart.  

Freedom has definitely been hard for me to find this past year with my increased anxiety and stress, but I supposed that it is also then the perfect year to make it my mission.  I need to continually be evaluating if I am guarding my heart from evil thoughts and anxiety in order to fully prosper.  This should also be including avoiding watching certain content or reading certain books that may also not help me prosper.  This is that I know the Lord is going to take care of me.  He is always going to be with me because he loves me. Not that I am not going to have problems in my future, but I know that God will see me through even when I do have those struggles.