Guard your heart

Today I sensed the need to remind ourselves to guard our hearts. However much we try to avoid negativity issuing out of us in the form of anger and unforgiveness etc, we cannot avoid others issuing a barrage of unkind, untrue words towards us. We do need to protect ourselves from this barrage. Proverbs 4:23 advises us: "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it". Apostle Paul guides us in how to guard our hearts by telling us "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:7). How do we get God's peace? Another clue is in Proverbs 3:5: " Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;". Trusting God can seem like a tall order but the more we do the more we will see that God is indeed trustworthy. It requires faith. Imagine yourself putting up a shield to deflect negativity thrown at you, "take the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the Evil one ..." (Ephesians 3:16). We need to build up our arsenal of Words from God, which is why King David said, "I have hidden Your Word in my heart ..." (Psalm 119:11).