The Danger of an Unguarded Heart
May 20, 2025
My child, listen and be wise: Keep your heart on the right course. Proverbs 23:19 NLT
When a driver gets off course, he arrives at the wrong destination, or he may even get into a dangerous place by mistake. A carpenter who gets his measurements but saws off course will have a crooked, defective wall. A pharmacist who reads a prescription slightly wrong can cause serious problems for a patient. In each of those situations, the person in charge knows that much depends on his/her attention and diligence. Paying attention to the state of one’s heart is even more vital. There are serious consequences to an unguarded heart that gets off course.
Hearts left unguarded are easy targets for distraction, drifting, and deception. A very regular sign along the highways on neon blinking signs and massive billboards is “If you’re testing, you’re not driving.” Texting is just one of the many distractions competing for today’s drivers’ attention but is likely the most alarming. Sending or reading a text takes your eyes off the road for five seconds. That doesn’t seem like much, but at 55 mph, that's like driving the length of an entire football field with your eyes closed. You can’t afford it. You cannot drive safely unless driving has your full attention. Likewise, you cannot live successfully unless guarding your heart has your full attention. You will drift off course so gradually you won’t even notice it until you are in the wrong lane, perhaps having a relational crash. If you don’t monitor your heart, you will be deceived by sights and sounds that pull your heart away. An unguarded, distracted, drifting, and deceived heart is at the heart of every affair. After the destruction has happened, it’s generally easy to see what was going on, but you were too distracted to operate in truth.
Hearts left unguarded easily wilt and die in the heat of trouble or trial. Jesus told in the parable of the sower that it was like the seeds that don’t grow deep roots, easily wilting and dying in hard times. Every relationship has seasons when life is harder than you like. If your heart has been unguarded, your “feelings” will wilt, and you will think that weeding out this relationship is the wisest thing you can do. But you will find that hard times come in every subsequent relationship as well. Your own unguarded heart is the core issue in serial bad relationships. Trials and troubles are opportunities to grow and become stronger and better. They will if you guard your heart and grow deep roots.
Hearts unguarded become hard. You used to look at her tears and feel a tender desire to hold and help her. At one time you saw his hard work for you with such appreciation. But now the person you pledged to cherish forever can’t move your heart. God can’t move your heart easily anymore. Blaming, accusing, and excusing slowly becomes a way of life.
- Honestly, do you see any of those signs in yourself? If so, you are a distracted driver. A relational tragedy is ahead if you don’t do something now. Talk to your Father.