Guard Your Heart Bible Verse Meaning And Study

What does the Bible mean by guarding our heart? Is this in the Bible? What does it mean and how can it help the believer in Jesus Christ?

Guarding the Heart

In the Jewish vernacular, the heart is the seat of emotions, intellect, and motivations and for the Jew and their common greeting of one other was “peace unto you,” or in the Hebrew, “shalom Aleichem.” Asking a blessing for peace on someone is as common as us saying “How are you doing?” Since that is the general greeting for the Jews, they would have understood what Paul meant when He wrote about the importance of having peace with God in Philippians 4:7 where he writes “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Of course, the unsaved Jews, not having God’s Spirit, could not have the perfect peace of God because they haven’t made peace with God (Rom 5). For the Jewish Christian, Philippians 4:7 would make perfect sense.

Peace of Mind

The Greek word used for heart in Philippians 4:7 is “kardia” from which we get “cardiac.” This work can mean the vital organ that pumps blood to the body or it can denote the center of all physical and spiritual life and the context strongly suggests that it’s the secondary definition. Paul wrote that the peace of God, brought by the blood of God (in Christ), brought us peace with God (Rom 5:1). Having peace with God should help us guard our hearts and our minds. The Greek word for guard is “phroureō” and it means to “guard or protect as with a military force either to prevent hostile invasion, or to keep the inhabitants of a besieged city from flight.” If you haven’t made peace with God then you are at war with God. Christians can say, “We have been justified by faith [and] we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 5:1).

The Human Heart

The picture that God paints of the human heart is not pretty. Jeremiah 17:9 describes the heart as “deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” You can easily tell what a person treasures in their heart by their actions as Jesus said in Matthew 12:35;“The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil” and Jesus said when you look at the heart, you will find out what their heart really produces as He says “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). The conclusion is that the heart is deceitful about all things; the heart is desperately sick; who can really understand it; the proof is in our words.

A Heart Transplant

Even though Ezekiel was writing to Israel, the idea that God creates in us a new heart is very similar to what he wrote in Ezekiel 36:26 “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Every Christian receives a new heart just as Paul declares; “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2nd Cor 5:17) and this means new desires, new passions, and a new way of life. The old desires for sinful activity are being replaced with a desire to obey and serve God. Although we will still sin, we just won’t enjoy it anymore. The Holy Spirit will ding us in our conscience when we do and that’s a great thing! And now the focus turns to Christ and the members of His body, the church. Now, having a new heart, we’ve got to protect it, just as Solomon writes “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life” (Prov 4:23).

The Sinful Heart

I had a sinful heart and I didn’t even realize it. It was only after being convicted by the Holy Spirit that I saw my sinfulness and it made me flee to the cross. You could tell that I was not saved in my youth by my words because “what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person” (Matt 15:18). Jesus didn’t mince words in Matthew 12:34 in speaking to the self-righteous Jews; “You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” Jesus was trying to warn the Jews that unless they turn from their sins, meaning they turn away from and forsake them (including their pride!), and then humble themselves before Christ and put their trust in Him, they have the wrath of God (John 3:36b) being stored up for them. Paul pleaded with the unrepentant and told them to trust in Christ but many refused so he wrote that it was “because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed” (Rom 2:5).

Conclusion

Have you trusted in Christ? Then Jesus tells you “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me” (John 14:1) and even more, He says “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27). Isaiah assures us, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you” (Isaiah 26:3). Knowing these promises are true should help you guard your hearts and minds, especially since you now have peace with God (Rom5:1). Now what? We’ve been called out of darkness into the light to go back into the darkness again (Matt 28:19-20).

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.