Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” I’ve often heard this verse taught in the context of dating relationships and purity. But I think it also applies to guarding the access to our hearts in other relationships as well. Interestingly, the Hebrew word for guard, mišmār, communicates an active nature of how someone should guard.1 What this means is that guarding is active, not passive. We aren’t trying to protect ourselves from love. If we love, we will risk being hurt. But we are trying to protect ourselves for love. We don’t want to get
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