Above All Else

Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

1 Peter 3:15 In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. 

Proverbs 4:23 Above all else…

Proverbs 4:23 above every kind of guarding.

Proverbs 23:7 "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he." 

Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart

Discernment - Not everything should be allowed in   

Authority -  decide what crosses the threshold

Vigilance  - consistency.

Proverbs 5:21 "For your ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all your paths."

1 Peter 5:8: "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Philippians 4:8 litmus test:  "Whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."

Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."

In context means: The totality of your life's output.

Mark 7:21-23 "For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within."

Matthew 7:18 Jesus used this principle repeatedly: "A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit."

Jesus didn't come to *modify behavior*—came *transform hearts* 

Are we guarding our hearts?