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## Guard Your Heart The bible makes reference to the heart 826 times. This huge emphasis on the heart shows the level of importance God places on the heart. What kind of heart is being referenced? It’s our spiritual heart that is being referenced in the scriptures. Just as the physical heart is a vital organ because it pumps blood around your body, delivering oxygen and nutrients to your cells and removing waste products. So our spiritual heart is also vital as the source of our spiritual life flows from it. It all starts in the heart. The spiritual heart is where our emotions and desires reside which always exposes our true feelings. Jesus puts like this in Luke 6:45 “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks”. The heart can be a great hiding place for what we can call spiritual ‘Weapons of Mass Distraction’. What are these weapons? Pride, envy, jealousy, offences, unforgiveness, bitterness and anything that produces the works of the flesh. Before any sin is committed in the open it is first committed in the heart. The heart is a reservoir! Change takes place in the heart and decisions are made in the heart. The enemy keeps special watch over this area, as that is his entry point. As the enemy keeps special watch, we must keep watch too. Similar to how we will prudently guard expensive jewellery, an expensive car, our money in the bank or our family who we dearly love; the same attention and efforts should be shown towards our heart. There are particular heart conditions that the bible warns us to avoid having: a double heart, a hard heart, a proud heart, an unbelieving heart, a cold heart and an unclean heart. When the heart is put under pressure, a condition from the list above can be developed if our hearts are not guarded. That’s when people can see who you really are and you can also see the area you need to work on. Peter’s heart was put under pressure in the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus was being arrested and Peter at that moment allowed his emotions to get the best of him by cutting the right ear of the high priest servant with a sword. Cain's heart was put under pressure when his brother Abel’s offering was preferred over his. Judas' heart was put under pressure when he was convinced by the Pharisee’s to betray Jesus. Have you ever found yourself acting out of character under pressure? Have you ever found yourself being led by your emotions rather than God’s wisdom? We have all been there before and this happens because we have not guarded our hearts. The true content of your heart comes out when you are offended, frustrated, disappointed or simply put when life brings its challenges. How many people today spend time guarding their hearts? We rather spend time filling it with our desires that sometimes give birth to the weapons of mass distraction. God is calling us believers to focus on this area. We all need to be conscious of our heart and consistently guard it like we would do for our loved ones. With this in mind we can live out this faith journey with love, peace and joy. Start shutting the door of your heart to the things that could breed poison and start growing in the things that produce life and speak well of your testimony as a Christian.