Becareful of the things you allow into your heart.

Becareful of the things you allow into your heart. Looking great is commendable. It can enhance your sense of self-worth and improve your prospects in life. But it’s a great error to dwell so much on your appearance and neglect your character.

As humans, we focus so much on our outward appearance but God focuses on our hearts. 1 Samuel 16:7 says, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart”. This is where the Bible comes into play. As a spiritual mirror, God shows us our true self; the condition of our heart at any given moment.

Studying the Bible is literally looking at our true self in a mirror. This is why many of us don’t like studying it - we probably wouldn’t like what we see about ourselves. Mark 7:21-22 says, "For from within, out of people's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, thefts, murders, adultery, greed, wickedness, cheating, shameless lust, envy, slander, arrogance, and foolishness.”

Pause and ask yourself, how’s the condition of your heart today? What kind of thoughts are you entertaining? That’s what God is really looking at. I know we often want to change our habits, but we have to go to the heart of our problem - which is the problem of our heart. This is why the Psalmist prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10).

We are responsible for what we allow into our hearts and act upon. God gave control over our mind to us and no one else, not even Him. If you leave your mind unattended, negative information, thoughts and ideas will take root in your heart and influence you negatively. The wise king, Solomon said, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” (Proverbs 4:23)

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