“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10
Taking care of your heart is one of the best things you could do for your body! Your body has about 5.6 liters (6 quarts) of blood. This 5.6 liters of blood circulates through the body three times every minute. In one day, the blood travels a total of 19,000 km (12,000 miles) – that’s four times the distance across the US from coast to coast. It is central to every function in your body, much like an engine is for a car. In the age of fast food and easy consumption of highly processed carbs, it’s all too common to fuel our bodies in the wrong way.
I’m no exception. Up until I was 41, I had a serious addiction to sugar and I swapped healthy foods for my satisfaction – all for the cost of feeling good in the moment. This led to a stroke that decimated my speech and my appetite for sweets. I had to change if I wanted to live a long time.
Proverbs 4: 23 “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
Aside from taking care of our heart physically, it’s crucial to take care of it spiritually! Guarding our hearts means protecting them. How does one go about doing that? I’m no spiritual expert but I can share one way on how I protect mine.
Each morning I try to soak in God’s presence. I say try because I get distracted easily. During that time, I seek to know what God wants to tell me whether it’s about myself, circumstances or whatever his will is. The list goes on. Because I’m so easily distracted, I have to simplify my world. If I don’t, I get blown away by whatever pulls me in. And because I used to suffer from major self esteem problems, I knew I had to concentrate on this issue. The world tells me I’m not good enough through comparisons everyday. But during my time with God, I see myself differently.
His word says in 1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.” 1 John 3:1 “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”
Hello!! How wonderful it is to protect our hearts with this when we feel unworthy? It’s transformative!
Each of us have different heart issues. Maybe for you, it’s spending too much, or too much time on tv or too much food? Maybe it’s gossip or lying, or could it be too much buying?
There is scripture to guard our hearts for every problem. Now does it mean that we become perfect in these areas once we apply them? I wish! We will always have temptations so we need to guard our hearts everyday! And some of us need outside help like counselling etc. to really uncover why these have a hold on us as well as other tools.
I told you I had an addiction to sugar and it was quite severe. I still love sugar and everyday I battle with the amounts I want to eat. But not like I did back then. I couldn’t see myself not wanting a coke anymore or copious amounts of ice cream everyday. With God’s help I am on my way to be in control of sugar, and not sugar be in control of me. If this sounds like you, and maybe it’s something else, please be assured that you can overcome like I did. You can wrap yourself in His cozy little words of strength and guard your heart one day at a time!
“My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart,
for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity.” Proverbs 3:1-2