By: D. A. Slinkard
As I sit down to write this article, I think about all of the issues in life that seem to be popping up throughout the world. We live in some very dangerous times and some odd times. As I was thinking about the issues that impact the lives of people throughout the world, I started thinking about where the problems start. Proverbs 4:23 came to mind which states, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Such wise words that we could use in a time like this.
We live in a time in which we are surrounded by fake things. I am not talking about fake news, but I am talking about the explosion of social media platforms and the videos being viewed – we need to be careful what we allow our eyes to see. When I speak to groups of people, whether it be young or old, I want to remind them that many videos we see on the Internet are made for entertainment purposes only. We need to be mindful of what we watch, whether it be streaming on the Internet or watching television shows, because it directly impacts our heart. The images and sights go through our eyes down to our heart.
We also need to be careful of the music and the lyrics we listen to. Music is a very powerful tool to help influence the moods, desires, and motivations of many people. We need to be mindful of the lyrics that we listen to; just because we like the sound of the beat we are hearing, we need to be mindful of the words that coming into our ears. What we listen to goes through our ears down to our heart.
We also need to be careful of the thoughts we entertain in our own minds. Our thoughts can be a very dangerous, especially the more we begin to dwell on certain things. I am a firm believer that if we think negatively, then more negative things will happen, and if we think positive, we will be able to get positive results. We need to be mindful of our thought process because what we think in our mind goes down to our heart.
When we take the time to realize how important these three things are when it comes to impacting our heart and the world around us, it should force us to change some things. We need to be more observant to what negativity we are allowing into our heart. Everything that comes in through our eyes, our ears, our thoughts, has an impact on our heart. In our heart is where love lives, and it is also a place where hate harbors. What does your heart say about you?
We need to protect our hearts with diligence and with extreme care. If we do not protect it, we will lose it, and we will grow cold towards others and towards the things that matter. When we look at the issues of life, we see these issues have come about because our hearts have grown colder to how things used to be. We have a society that is more interested in not hurting someone else’s feelings as opposed to being honest and truthful with the person. We are okay with lying to people and denying the truth for the sake of not offending someone else. It is high time we woke up and realized the idiocrasy we are living in. If we did more to protect our hearts with diligence, we would see it is not okay to lie to other people and tell them they can pretend they are something they are not. P.S. – a man cannot become pregnant. I cannot change my gender just like I cannot change my age. Sure, I could tell you I was younger or older, and it may make me feel good, but we must realize a lie is still a lie.
We need to focus on having the heart to show people the truth of how things are. We live in a day when evil is called good and good is called evil. If only we could get our hearts right, we would see the change we need and could bring it back our nation. Otherwise, we are going to continue to spiral out of control, basing truth on the feelings of others and bringing on more issues in life. We must keep our hearts with all diligence.
By: D. A. Slinkard
D.A. Slinkard would love your feedback. You can contact him at da.slinkard@gmail.com
April 19, 2024
