Daily our souls are assaulted. We’re exposed to thoughts and images that burden and sometimes outright traumatize our inner world. We must diligently guard our hearts in order to make it through.
We don’t have to look far to find the latest scandal, political drama, or traumatic event. Our news feeds are filled with one horrific story after another.
And most days we don’t give it a second thought. This is just the world we live in.
However true, such daily exposure robs us of our inner vitality.
Anger, fear, and despair become the very air we breathe – leaving little room for faith, hope, and love.
For instance, it’s often easier to get upset over various global issues or so consumed by the latest national tragedy that we forget to actually love our neighbor – those people in our direct path we’ve been called to serve.
In the name of being informed citizens and fighting for a greater good we tend to neglect how this impacts our soul. And eventually this takes us out from the very good we’re trying to accomplish.
To guard our heart doesn’t mean we put our heads in the sand or filter the world through unrealistic rosy perspectives.
At the same time, we must not let the countless tragedies of the world distract or otherwise overwhelm our heart so much so that we cannot love the very people God has called us to love.
To guard our heart is to protect it from all that would steal, kill, and destroy its vitality. And often this means filtering what we consume in order to stay focused on our practice of love.
This requires daily discipline – remaining mindful of how the things we’re exposed to infects the soul.
How is your heart these days?
