"Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life." (Proverbs 4:23)
It is always fascinating when the Bible uses terms like above all else. The fascination is found in the fact that we use a term like that in a matter of fact kind of way that diminishes its value. When we find the term in Scriptures, this is quite different. So when the writer of Proverbs says to guard your heart above all else, we should take notice.
This is why we are encouraged to guard our hearts above all else. If our heart becomes corrupt, then our entire life will suffer. Guarding our heart is about the types of things we expose our heart to. In proverbs there is a list that follows of some things to steer clear of. I am sure we could all add to the list.
If guarding your heart as an individual is top priority, it is even more essential for a marriage. We are constantly bombarded with all kinds of situations and messages that have the ability to steer our marriage to a bad place. The key place to guard our hearts is in the relationships we have with people who we are not married to. If we do not guard our heart it is easy to allow someone to have a portion of our heart that is reserved for our spouse.
Many extramarital affairs begin as a friendship where the two people do not guard their hearts. Before long more and more of a persons heart becomes available to someone who is not their spouse. From there it is not a jump to give your heart away to someone who it does not belong. This brings a whole new understanding to guarding your heart.
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