"Above all else, guard your heart…."
“Guard your heart with all diligence…”

((Musings I had a while back and I wondered if you agree at all?? Or if you just think I'm being hyper-religious or something...?)

YOU TOTALLY GET that it matters how you behave with others. It matters how you are with yourself; with those who persecute you and those you love; with the poor along with the rich.

What the heavens happens when we climb inside that moving vehicle sharing a busy road? In my thought process, I'm like...

If I practice being angry, mean-spirited, critical, impatient, outraged, annoyed, anxious, or sick & tired on the road,

I put angry, mean-spirited, critical, impatient, outraged, annoyed, anxious, or sick & tired inside my heart.

The Bible says that defiles me. That's why Jesus explained, "It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart" (Mk 7:15).

Psalm 4:23 says to guard my heart DILIGENTLY. Woooo!!! That's the teaching moment. Why?

Because from my heart flows the wellspring that is my life. It creates my LIFE. Whatever's in that well had better be GOOD bc whatever overflows from it will be my life and life experience. Poom pop!

When driving, and when I'm tempted to lash out at or get my panties in a bunch at other drivers, I pray always to refuse to offend that tender heart of my Jesus,

who died for and cares deeply for every driver and “passerby” I see.

I want to notice anxiety and quench it lest I harden my heart towards someone and then become a conduit for that defilement (anger, impatience, self-centeredness, etc) to everyone around me.

I want to maintain ownership of my personal impact on the world.

The guy in the car in front of me can’t hear me. It’s illogical at best and self-righteous at worst to get all preachy at people WHO CAN'T EVEN RESPOND!

At one time, I battled with depression and wondered where the negativity came from. lol. Um, maybe I should not let that poison into my heart and excuse it by calling it "small stuff." If it sickens my heart and spoils all the fun and interrupts my fellowship with Jesus, it's HUGE!!!