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Guarding Your Heart God's Way: Christian Boundaries & Wisdom · Fostering Faith

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  Welcome back to Fostering Faith. We are so happy
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  that you guys had tuned in this week. This is
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  our final episode for our love month. And I did
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  check there is four weeks in February versus
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  five like January. And so we are recording these
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  episodes earlier. And so we're trying to get
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  ahead of the game. And we have created a workbook
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  series that is on our website fosteringfaithmedia
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  .com. And so you guys can head over there and
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  check out the links should be in our bio and
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  we hope that those can be printed out and passed
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  around and you guys can be listening these to
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  small groups and maybe in your women's ministry,
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  men's ministry, whatever. And so that way you
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  guys can just walk through these together and
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  share and be vulnerable and have community because
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  we are better together. And so I hope these messages
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  are flowing and that these series are blessing
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  you and just keeping you motivated and inspired
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  to be more like Christ. And so in this episode,
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  we are gonna be talking about guarding. Our heart
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  God's way and so guarding our heart is one of
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  the most important spiritual disciplines You
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  will ever learn because your heart is the place
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  where everything flows from Proverbs 4 23 says
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  above all else guard your heart for everything
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  you do flows from it Nothing not some things
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  but everything your thoughts your decisions your
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  relationships your emotional patterns your boundaries
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  Your purpose your calling your choices They all
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  flow out of the condition of your heart. And
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  your heart is a wellspring of your life. And
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  whatever is shaping your heart is shaping your
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  future. But most of us, we're never taught how
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  to guard our heart. We either did too much or
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  too little. Some of us build walls. instead of
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  boundaries and you guys are gonna hear my dog
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  spark and so we apologize but we live life here
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  and people come and go and our dog it may be
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  a little crazy and that's fine his name is Izzy
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  he's old and so he's trying to protect his mama
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  and some of us have built boundaries and some
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  of us have trusted too quickly and handed our
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  hearts to the wrong people some of us trusted
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  no one at all and lived in isolation some of
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  us spilled our hearts into friendships that weren't
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  safe. Some of us let bitterness guard our heart
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  instead of the Holy Spirit. We didn't know the
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  difference between guarding and hiding. We didn't
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  know the difference between wise boundaries and
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  emotional shutdown. And we definitely didn't
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  know how to protect our heart without losing
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  our tenderness. And so let's start there. Guarding
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  our heart doesn't mean closing our heart. Guarding
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  your heart means protecting what God is doing
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  inside of you so nothing destroys it. Guarding
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  your heart is not being suspicious of everyone.
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  It's being surrendered to God. Guarding your
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  heart is not paranoia. It's stewardship. Think
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  of your heart like a garden. A garden protected
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  doesn't mean nothing grows. It means only what
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  is planted intentionally survives. Guard your
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  heart like a garden, not a prison. When Solomon
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  wrote Proverbs 4, he wasn't talking about guarding
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  your heart from love and relationships. He wasn't
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  saying that. Be cold, never trust, stay distant,
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  don't let anyone in. He didn't say that. He was
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  saying be careful. What shapes your inner world?
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  Because whatever gets into your heart eventually
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  flows into your decisions. If fear gets in, fear
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  will flow out. If bitterness gets in, Bitterness
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  will flow out. If insecurity gets in, insecurity
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  will flow out. If truth gets in, then truth will
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  flow out. If God words gets in, wisdom will flow
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  out. If the Holy Spirit gets in, peace will flow
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  out. Your heart is too valuable to leave unprotected.
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  Think about this. If someone steals a car, an
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  alarm goes off. If someone tries to break into
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  your house, the security system gets triggered.
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  But if someone tries to break your heart, most
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  of us don't even notice. We allow access without
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  evaluating motives. We let people speak into
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  our identity without testing their fruit. We
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  take criticism from people who don't carry your
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  calling. We take advice from people not submitted
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  to God. We trust voices that are loud instead
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  of voices that are wise. And then we wonder why
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  Our heart feels bruised, overwhelmed, confused,
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  or exhausted. Guarding our heart requires discernment,
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  and discernment is not suspicion. Discernment
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  is spiritual wisdom, and discernment says, God,
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  show me who is meant to be close, and who is
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  meant to stay outside the gate. Jesus loved everyone,
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  but he didn't give everyone access, the same
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  access. He had a crowd. He had the 70, he had
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  the 12, and then he had the three. Different
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  access for different people and he never apologized
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  for that. And so we often tell our high school
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  small groups is that we have level 10 friends
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  and we have level one friends. And so you pick
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  the level and which people and what you're gonna
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  say. And so whenever you're sharing, if you want
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  everyone in here to be a level 10 friend, then
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  let it flow. And if you are at a level one, that's
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  fine. And so pick the level that you guys are
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  at. And so one of the ways the enemy tries to
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  destroy your heart is by blurring those access
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  lines. He makes you feel guilty for setting boundaries.
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  He makes you think that you're unloving for saying
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  no. He makes you think that you're selfish for
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  protecting your peace. But hear me clearly, guarding
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  your heart is not selfish. It is biblical. If
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  the enemy can't break your faith, he'll try to
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  break your focus. He does it through people,
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  situations, distractions, drama, emotional clutter.
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  And so let's talk about relationships for the
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  moment because February is our relationship month
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  and we're ending it on a strong note. Some of
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  the biggest wounds in your heart didn't come
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  from random people. They came from people you
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  trusted, people you helped, people that you love
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  deeply. And so now You guard your heart by shutting
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  it down instead of guarding it through wisdom.
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  You build walls when God wants you to build gates.
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  Walls keep everyone out. Gates let the right
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  people in and keep the wrong people out. Walls
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  isolate. Gate filters. Walls protect through
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  fear. And gates protect through discernment.
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  And so let's get practical. Guarding your heart
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  means guarding your inputs. What do you watch?
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  What do you listen to? Who gets emotional access?
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  What you meditate on? What you repeat to yourself?
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  The environments that you tolerate? The conversations
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  you feed? The drama that you participate in?
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  Your daily inputs shape your heart more than
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  you realize. And if your heart is troubled, check
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  your inputs. If your heart is anxious, check
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  your inputs. If your heart is bitter, check your
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  input. If your heart is insecure, check your
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  input. Your heart can't thrive in an intoxic
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  environment. Maybe you've noticed this. Some
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  people drain your heart. They don't challenge
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  you. They don't uplift you. They don't speak
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  truth. They don't sharpen you. They don't push
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  you closer to Christ. They bring chaos, confusion,
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  drama, negativity. Guarding your heart doesn't
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  mean you stop loving them. That means you stop
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  giving them influence. And let's be real. Some
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  of those thoughts that you've been entertaining
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  are not from God. The enemy plants suggestions,
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  hoping you're going to water them. He whispers
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  the lies, hoping you meditate on them. He brings
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  up your past mistakes, hoping that you'll define
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  yourself by them. And we talked about that in
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  the last episode. We are so hard on ourselves.
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  If God has forgiven you, forgive yourself and
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  move on. That's why Paul says in 2 Corinthians
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  10 -5, take every thought captive. Not entertain
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  it. Not analyze it. Not rehearse it. Take it
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  captive. Guarding your heart begins in your own
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  thought life. You cannot protect. You cannot
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  have a protected heart and an unprotected mind.
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  And one more thing. Guarding your heart means
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  guarding your identity. You cannot let people
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  label you. I tell this to my patients all the
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  time. They come in and say, I have this, I am
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  this, I am this, I am this, I am this. No. The
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  only label that you get to wear is a child of
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  God. That is the only label that you get to wear.
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  You cannot let your past seasons define you.
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  You cannot let your insecurities name you. You
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  cannot let failure discourage you. You cannot
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  let shame attach yourself to yourself. The enemy
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  attacks - Identity because your identity determines
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  your destiny if he can't change God's call on
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  your life, but she can't He'll try to convince
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  you that you're not worthy of it guard your heart
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  for from your identity attacks by anchoring yourself
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  to God's Word and Repeat you are chosen and not
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  rejected loved and not forgotten forgiven not
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  condemned and called and not overlooked protected
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  not abandon And we brought this up on in the
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  podcast before please know the enemy knows Scripture
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  and if you don't know it better than he does
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  He will twist it and make you believe that it's
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  true if he has the audacity to go after Jesus
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  with Scripture Do you not think that you are
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  a little snack to him if you do not know what
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  scripture says? Somebody can take it out of context
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  and try to spin it and beat you over the head
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  with it. And that's what's wrong with Christianity
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  and people that take context into the wrong places
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  where they don't need to go and they take the
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  Bible that is meant for healing and they beat
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  people with it. And so make sure that you are
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  rooted in Scripture. Make sure that you are spending
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  time in the Word. Podcasts and sermons and church
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  are supplementary. They are not meant to... Take
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  your time over with God that is you and him that
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  is a relationship between you and God Spending
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  time with him being in his word being in prayer
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  being in worship Podcast and sermons on YouTube
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  and going to church. Those are supplemental Those
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  are not meant to be your whole dinner. You can't
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  live on supplements You can't. And please know,
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  I like supplements, but I still have to eat.
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  I still have to eat the main sources of protein.
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  I still have to eat the nutrition that I need.
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  And so supplements are important, but they are
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  supplements. They are not the main course. He
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  is your main course. He set your table. And so
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  just making sure that you are getting your wisdom
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  and your knowledge from the direct guy. Like
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  he's your father. Spend time with him. Okay,
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  that was my rant for the moment. Okay, and then
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  so we're guarding our heart. You cannot have
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  a protected heart and an unprotected mind. And
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  the one more thing is guard your heart means
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  guarding your identity, which we just talked
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  about. And so you are a child of God. You are
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  a son or daughter of the Most High. That's it.
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  Bottom line. If you've given your life to Christ,
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  this is only for those that have given their
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  lives to Jesus, that you believe that God sent
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  his son to die for you on a cross and that he
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  rose on the third day to pay for our sins. This
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  is only for you. That's who this podcast is for.
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  And for those that you don't know Jesus, stick
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  around. We'll introduce you to the guy. He is
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  fantastic and he's just so wonderful. And he
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  is just wonderful. I just love him. And as we
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  come to the end of this message, I want to give
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  you a picture. So imagine Your heart is a house.
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  Who has the key? If you had a billion dollar
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  house, would you give a stranger the keys? Would
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  you give a random person your keys? Who has the
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  keys? Who has access to the rooms? Who would
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  you give the alarm code to? Who can walk in and
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  rearrange things? Would you just invite someone
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  that you randomly meet into your gated community
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  and say, hey, come on, here's the keys, here's
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  the access code, here's this, here's that, I'm
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  gonna be gone on vacation this day. Would you
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  give them all that access? Could someone just
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  randomly walk into your house and just rearrange
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  your whole furniture, paint your walls, and do
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  all the things? Who can influence you how you
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  feel, who you let in, how you think, how you
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  respond? Who gets to decorate your walls of your
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  mind? And who gets to speak into your identity?
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  Some of us, some of you, have handed out the
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  keys to the people who should not have even been
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  in your driveway. Let them know your address.
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  Guarding your heart means taking back the keys
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  God never told you to give away. This is such
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  an important part, your heart. Guard it. More
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  than you guard your house, more than you drive
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  your car, and we have insurance. Just in case,
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  like, just guard your heart. And so the action
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  step this week is simple. Identify one area of
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  your heart that needs guarding. Your thoughts,
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  your emotions, your boundaries, or your influences.
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  Ask God to show you one change to make this week.
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  But then, actually, Make it. Be a doer of the
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  word and not just a hearer of the word. We hope
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  this message inspired you, encouraged you to
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  take a deeper look at what's going on inside
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  your heart. We would love to pray for you this
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  week. Dear Heavenly Father, we pray for the listeners
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  right now. We pray for... them to be strengthened
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  and have wisdom over every heart that's listening.
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  Help them discern who is belonging in their life
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  and who does not. Help them set holy boundaries.
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  Help them protect their identity. Guard their
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  peace. Reveal every unhealthy access point. Show
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  them how to build gates and not walls. Surround
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  them with the right people and remove every distraction
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  sent by the enemy. Anchor their heart in your
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  word. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen and amen
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  We hope this message encouraged you that inspires
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  you send it to a friend share it with a friend
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  Share it with your small groups and make sure
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  that you go check out the workbooks on our fostering
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  faith media website The link should be in the
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  show notes. We hope you guys have an amazing
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  week and stay tuned for next month Talk to you
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  later. Bye