The most important work for you and every other Christian to do on earth – is to keep your own heart sweet in the Lord. It’s more important than evangelizing or teaching, or Sunday School work, or being an elder in a local church. When sweetness is overtaken by bitterness in our hearts – it’s an emergency. Bitterness is a monster weed. It will sap your energy and choke your joy and cripple your usefulness for the Lord.
If you haven’t already experienced it, you soon will. Someone will say something to hurt you or annoy you. It could be at work, or within your circle of friends, or in the local church. It could be a friend, a fellow-Christian or anyone or anything. Something that hurts you, and the more you think about it, the more upset you become. You want to strike back and give them a piece of your mind. Now, every time you see that person, you have to suppress your negative feelings.
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23 NIV
Read Philippians 4:4-8 and think of the relevance of these verses to guarding your heart.
Physically your heart is the control center of physical life. If something is wrong with your heart, everything else is in peril. Spiritually, it is the control center of your life. If there is something wrong with your heart, everything else is in jeopardy – including your joy, your worship, your service and your testimony.
We protect our investments, our properties, and our health – but how much time do we spend watching over, guarding and protecting our hearts?
You alone are responsible for the condition of your heart and for keeping it safe. No one can make you unhappy or steal your joy in Christ. If you lose it, it’s because you allowed it to happen. You allowed that negativity into your heart and let it grow like a wild weed.
It could be bitterness or envy or jealousy, worldliness or immorality – but be sure of this – choices start in the very heart for which you are responsible for its safeguarding. So protect it at any cost.
Yes, things really do happen. On this planet, wherever there are people, there will be problems. In the local church – no matter which one you attend; in the workplace and in your circle of friends. Wherever there are people, there will be problems.
You are not responsible for their actions, but you alone are responsible for your reactions.
- Confess your own sin of negativity and bitterness.
- Remember you are to forgive – even as Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32
- Turn the entire situation over to the Lord. Tell Him it’s too big for you and ask Him for help just to keep your own soul sweet in Christ.
- Look away from the horizontal problems and focus vertically on Christ and get busy being a fruitful Christian.
- Humility is a very important ingredient and preservative in your life. James 4:6-7; 1Peter 5:6-7; Psalm 34:18; Isaiah 57:15
- Saturate your heart with the Word of God.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14
How can a young man [person] keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart, I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:9-11
Sometimes we partially deal with our bitterness or negativity, but we feel justified in harbouring a lingering bit of resentment – because, after all, it really did happen! Remember this – bitterness is a monster weed. You cannot keep a little bit of it in your heart – as if it was a tidy little potted plant on the window ledge. It must be pulled up by the roots and done away with, or it will become an all-consuming weed that will damage you more than you could ever imagine.
A sweet spirit wants the blessing of others – even those who hurt us. We don’t want them taken down. Jonah, the prophet, is an Old Testament example of one who never lost his bitterness towards those who had hurt God’s people.
Assignment for today:
- Can you identify anything in your life that’s robbing you of your joy in Christ? What are you going to do about it?
- Look up the above-mentioned verses and hi-lite them in your Bible.
- Read the Epistle to the Philippians and notice how often’ joy’ and ‘rejoice’ are mentioned.
