Proverbs is a book about wisdom. It’s about the importance of wisdom, how to live in a wise manner, and how to view the world through the grid of wisdom. The proverbs are not promises; proverbs don’t work like that. They are instead descriptions of the way life generally works in the way God has set it. They are principles for living wisely. And there are a lot of them.

There are proverbs about work, money, time, parenting, and a host of other subjects. And in Proverbs 4, in the midst of all the other proverbs, we find this:

Above all else, guard your heart,
    for everything you do flows from it (Prov. 4:23).

Above all else…

That is, if you don’t listen to anything else… if you aren’t paying that much attention… if you only hear one thing, hear this – Guard your heart. And why does this action take such precedence? The proverb continues and tells us the reason – it’s because everything flows from the heart. Our actions? Our speech? The way we interact with others? Our relationship with the Lord? These all find their source in the heart. Given that reality, it’s no wonder that we should guard our hearts. We should be careful with them, because when our hearts get jumbled up it will work itself out in a whole host of ways. Conversely, when we find something harmful or destructive in our attitude, speech, finances, or anything else, we might focus on that behavior, but doing so is like putting a band-aid on internal hemorrhaging.

So we guard our hearts. But how do we do that exactly? Here are three suggestions:

1. We guard our hearts by examining our intake.

If we think the things in our environment – the things we are exposed to – have no effect on us, then we are very foolish indeed. If we are constantly taking in cynicism, fear, anger, profanity in all its forms, or other destructive things, it is inevitable that we will be affected. If, then, we are serious about guarding our hearts, then we should take a hard look at what we are voluntarily exposing ourselves to.

2. We guard our hearts by checking our investment. 

Disappointment is inevitable. Countless times and in countless ways we will find ourselves with unmet expectations. But while that is inevitable, it’s also a chance for us to recognize that many times our disappointment runs so deeply because we are too heavily invested in that particular thing. We have put too much weight on that opportunity or that conversation or even that relationship. It’s not wrong to look forward or hope for some kind of change in life; it is wrong, however, to place the full weight of our joy and satisfaction on anything other than Jesus.

3. We guard our hearts by checking our identity.

As human beings, we have the tendency to tie the core of our self-worth, validation, and personhood to things. We tie it to jobs, to reputation, or to position. These become the things by which we define ourselves, and that’s okay, until those things go away. And they inevitably will go away at least in some form. When they do, it is a near crushing sense of listlessness; it’s as if we are floating aimlessly on the sea with no anchor to give us purchase.

Who are we? This is the question behind it all. And as Christians, the question has been answered once and for all. Regardless of what else changes in our circumstances, the answer remains that we are, at the core, children of God. This is our true source of security; this is our true source of validation. When we remind ourselves of who we really are we are insulating our hearts against these secondary, but seductive, sources of self-identity.

It is from our hearts that everything else flows. So let us not treat them casually. Let us protect them. Actively.