Today I am going to take a look at a concept that I believe is neglected by my generation. As a young adult, I am sharing from experience and observation. The concept I am discussing is guarding your heart. My generation excels at many things, but guarding our heart is not one of them.
The scripture reference is Proverbs 4:23

This verse is well known, but how much do we practice it? Do we actively guard our heart? Do we believe it is in fact the wellspring of life? Do we even know how to guard our heart?
The answer for my generation is an emphatic “NO”. I’ve experienced the consequences of an unguarded heart. I’ve observed the damage done to close friends due to unguarded hearts. It is not a pretty sight. Christians and Non-Christians struggle with this concept.

With that being said, I want to examine the condition of an unguarded heart.
An unguarded heart is just that, not guarded. Easily harmed.
Question- Would you leave your most valuable possession unguarded for an extended period of time?…Yeah, didn’t think so. So why do we do it with our heart? The Bible says ABOVE ALL ELSE guard your heart. Let me give a few examples before I answer the question-

1) Unguarded heart in a relationship 
In a dating relationship it looks something like this-
Boy meets girl and there is a “spark”. Commonly called chemistry. A short amount of time passes and the boy and girl are communicating openly about everything. More time passes and the two individuals begin to date. By this time, serious connections are being made. Then, the breaking point is reached. The spark fade and the relationship ends. Regardless of who ended the relationship, both hearts are wounded. The depth of the wound will have a direct connection to the depth of their connection. Both individuals move on, but in most cases they carry the wound for a long time, and also into their next relationship.

(Notice the use of “boy” and “girl” in that example. A point I want to make is that a Man will protect his heart and the heart of the Woman he pursues.)

2) Simple imagery- 
Imagine taking two whole pieces of play doh and sticking them together, and after a time, ripping them apart. Now, imagine doing that over and over again. What happens? Well, our once pure piece of play doh is now littered with several other pieces of play doh and pieces of it are missing.

This is how my generation does relationships. We attach our heart over and over again just to get it tainted over time by failed relationships.

Back to the question- Why do we leave our heart unguarded?
I think there are two main reasons-

1) We dont believe our heart is that valuable
2) We dont know how to guard our heart

When addressing these points, the first thing that comes to mind is Hosea 4:6a