What Is My Heart and Why Does It Need Guarding?

May 19, 2025

Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. Proverbs 4:23 NKJV

I memorized this verse as a young person and heard many lessons and teachings about it. Frankly, it was presented as life advice, mostly directing me to be incredibly careful to hold onto my heart when I dated. While that was certainly good advice, I felt skeptical that the verse was all about that. But what DID it mean to “guard your heart”? And what are these “issues”? What did that really mean for me?

I am a fan of checking alternate translations, not to change the meaning of a verse, but to clarify it. Reading several translations helps me figure out what God is saying to me because I can read the verse in a language I actually speak and understand today.

Check out these translations and see how they help your understanding:

“Above everything else, guard your heart; for it is the source of life’s consequences” (CJB).

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (NIV).

“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life” (ESV).

“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life” (NLT).

These translations all deliver a clear and pointed message. Guarding my heart is absolutely crucial because it is the source of the consequences I experience. It is the genesis or starting point of everything I do. My heart is the source of the words and actions that flow or spring from me. My heart ultimately determines the entire source of my life. Guarding my heart is serious business!

So, what is my “heart”? When the biblical writers speak of the heart, they aren’t referencing the physical organ that pumps our blood. They don’t mean the seat of our emotions, our “feeling’s vault.” The heart means the blending of our mind and will. It is the home of our inner person, who we truly and deeply are. The heart is the control center for our thoughts, our words, and our actions. The heart is what molds and shapes our lives and our eternities. It drives and determines our legacies, our celebrations, and our regrets. Nothing deserves or demands more careful attention than my heart.

• Pick a translation you understand for this verse and commit it to memory. It will be one of your best tools for successful living in the future. Pray, “Jesus, help me understand this crucial principle and direction and put it into practice in my daily living. Amen.”