#250: The Inner Life of the Christian

The 5 Minute Discipleship Podcast

I’ve been playing guitar since I was 9 years old. I’ll never forget that first guitar my grandparents gave me as a Christmas gift. If you don’t play guitar, what you may not know is that you have to constantly tune the guitar to the correct key. Even if you tuned it last week, or yesterday, or even a couple of hours ago, it can be out of tune. It takes regular attention to keep it sounding beautiful.

Our hearts are a lot like stringed instruments. We can tune them up by being in church, spending time with other believers, worshipping God, or by reading and applying God’s Word, but without regular tune-ups it doesn’t take long for our hearts to drift out of tune. And the longer we neglect tuning our hearts, the further they drift.

The Bible describes the inner life of the Christian as the heart. It’s not our physical heart but it’s the core or the center of all that we are. It’s critical that we pay attention to our inner life and that we keep our hearts in tune with God.

Today I was reading from Proverbs chapter four. Listen to verses 20-23. It says, “My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body. Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”

Why is it important to guard the heart? Why do we guard the inner life?

•Because your heart is extremely valuable.

We don’t guard things that are worthless. I take my garbage to the street every Thursday night. It’s picked up on Friday morning. It sits by the curb all night, completely unguarded. Why? Because it is worthless.

Not so with your heart. It is the essence of who you are. It’s the part of you that connects with God and other people.

The condition of your spiritual heart impacts every part of your life (walk with God, faith, emotional life, relationships, ministry, career, education).

•Because your heart is the source of everything you do.

In vs. 23 Solomon says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”

In other words, it is the source of everything else in your life. Your heart flows in to thoughts, words and actions.

The condition of your heart determines the direction of your life. Jesus said it this way in the New Testament: “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” (Luke 6:45)

•Because your heart is constantly under attack.

Think about this: Solomon’s word are a warning. “Guard.” He implies you are living in a combat zone. You don’t have to guard something, unless it is under attack.

We do lots of guarding, you and I. We lock our cars. We guard our homes, by locking the door. You guard your money by making wise investment and by living on a budget. You guard your family by being careful. But this scripture reminds us that more than anything else we might guard, we should guard our hearts. It should be our highest priority. Solomon says, “above all else…”

Today’s Challenge: Pay close attention to your inner life. Guard your heart. Ask God to reveal anything in your heart that does not please Him. Surrender these things to the Lord.