Guard Your Important Bits

My mother-in-law and I had a brief but awkwardly interesting conversation about protective gear for male cricketers recently. She and my father-in-law are visiting us from Namibia, so I appreciated the rare chance to have face-to-face awkward conversations.

I was watching an IPL match when a batter adjusted his er... abdominal guard* while on screen. This prompted the question from my mother-in-law about whether wearing protective gear is very uncomfortable and limits mobility significantly. She had no experience in wearing any protective kit like that at all.

I replied that it can be uncomfortable at times, but that everything in its design is intended to make the guard as effective against hits, yet as agreeable to wear as possible. The choice is either to wear something slightly uncomfortable that limits movement to a very small degree, or risking immeasurable pain and discomfort if a hard leather ball moving terribly fast uses parts of one's anatomy as a punching bag. It really is an easy decision to make in the end: one guards the most important and vulnerable parts should they come into harms way.

Like the heart. It is a very important part of one's anatomy, and an even more important part of one's being. Jesus says in Matthew 6:20-21

"But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

The state of our hearts (as the centre of our thoughs and emotions) is very important and Jesus knows this. The heart is where a lot of our being grows from. That might be why Solomon writes in Proverbs 4:23

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

It is truly important to protect one's heart, because it is an important part of our being, but also a very vulnerable part of our being. Let the wrong thing grow in it and it affects all of our lives. Jesus speaks to the Pharisees in Matthew 12:34-35 and says

"You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him."

But how would we go about protecting our hearts? It's not like we can go online and order a heart protector from Sports Direct. Well, maybe not Sports Direct, but the Bible has some pointers on protecting our hearts.

We can start by not allowing sin and bitterness to take root in our hearts. We make mistakes sometimes. God knows this and he gives us the opportunity to make things right again. It's called confession. David, after committing adultery and murder, writes in Psalm 51:10

"Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me."

In Psalm 139:23-24 he writes

"Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

Confessing our sins and not letting bitterness and anger (Ephesians 4:31-32) consume us helps to open our hearts to all the good, God-honouring things that are best for us.

Forgiveness is another tool to not harbour bitterness and anger and keep our hearts healthy. Jesus tells his disciples on multiple occasions to forgive those who have wronged them as God the Father has forgiven them (Matthew 6:12-15 and Mark 11:25).

Another key part of guarding our hearts is by filling it with the good things God has for us. Like love. Jesus sums up the whole Jewish law in two sentences (Matthew: 22:37-39)

"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself."

This goes both ways. We can't truly love someone and not be changed and moved by the experience ourselves. Love has a way of ministering to the lover as well as the loved. Hate often has the same but opposite effect on both the hater and the hated. Both hate and love are choices. Choose wisely.

Then Jesus gives us an amazing promise in Matthew 5:8

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God."

What a promise. What a gift. What a beautiful consequence of confessing our sins, forgiving those who wrong us, and choosing love over hate. Guarding our hearts are one of the best things we can do for ourselves and those around us. It will not necessarily save us from having awkward conversations with the in-laws, but it is worth it all the same.

Photo by DESIGNECOLOGIST on Unsplash

* We used to call them ball boxes when I was at school