‘Ifeoluwa, have you ever had an heartbreak? I mean has someone ever broken your heart?’ These were a friend’s words to me some weeks ago. Can you guess my reply? If you know me, you will know that my first reply will be a smile 😀and some seconds of silence. I then went on to reply him that “I have never been heartbroken’.

My friend was surprised, he practically paused in his movement and looked up at me with a very surprised face. This got me so amused that I burst into laughter😂😂!

Seriously now, away from heart breaks or heart leaks stories, I can share with you that I understand how important the state of heart is to wholesome living, so a lot of times I keep my heart guarded. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I’m an ‘Indabooksy’ or a ‘Woman of war’ but there is an imaginary sieve that I engage to filter contents in order to decide what gains access to my heart or what I pay attention to. It’s a simple tactic, here is how I make it work for me.

We live in a stress/drama pervasive world especially in a clime like Lagos Nigeria ( check out Lagos drama posts) but Ifeoluwa does not like stress nor drama, so  I decided to be selective with what I pay attention to. In order words, I am selective with my battles.

Over the years, this has been achieved because I trained my mind to sieve contents based on my values and beliefs. No matter how long/short, positive/motivational a content is, I have trained my mind to know the part of the content that is for me, I only pick what is mine (which is positive) and leave the rest. Even if it is a positive content, every strand of the content may not be meant for me.

‘Guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it flows issues of life’ Proverbs 4:23. To guard your heart doesn’t mean you are mean, uncompassionate, unkind, can’t be rebuked or corrected. To guard your heart means you are intentional about life, about your own particular living and reigning on earth. It establishes that you are not giving your life to chances or gamble rather you are taking charge of your life and in control of the things that have or do not have access to your life.

Your heart matters a lot (I feel like ringing a loud bell🔔on this). Yes, the state of your heart is so important because it flows or reflects in anything you do, anything at all. See, if your actions though positive are borne from a negative heart, it shows. If you decide to be a men-pleaser and do things just for the sake of ‘show-off’, it shows. Even if it seems that majority of your audience are applauding you, there will still be at least one person that can see below your cloak of pretense and it’s all a matter of time before your ingenuity is publicly uncovered.

Take a pause right now, examine yourself can you boldly say that your heart is free, without guile, offense, negativity of all kinds. If it is possible to uncover your heart, will you be proud of the contents in your heart? Hmmmmmm…this seems like a herculean task but it is possible. First, genuinely desire a clean heart.

Second, ask the Creator for a clean heart. David a man that God approved “A man after my own heart” said  to God, the Creator of the universe ‘create in me a clean heart’, so why can’t you follow suit and tell the Creator to create in you a clean heart, a heart that will be in rightness to God’s will. A heart free of offense, strife, hurt, pride, envy amongst many other negativities. Personally, whenever I am faced with negative content that can affect the state of my heart, I start saying the words ‘God help my heart’ and yes it works. It really does, that few seconds after I forget whatever happened and I have peace in my heart.

By the way, one of the measures to evaluate your heart is when you don’t have peace about something or someone. That is your conscience, don’t mute or kill it. Pay attention to your conscience, your peace and ultimately your heart.

Finally, be intentional about guarding your heart. Take charge of what you hear, see, read because these are the gateways to your mind. Install a permanent sieve at the gateway of your heart, it will help ensure and insure your sanity and peace.

If you ask me ‘Have I ever felt hurt? The answer is ‘Yes’ but if like my friend you ask me again, has my heart ever been broken, I will say ‘No’ because I keep my heart guarded and I am still a woman of genuine love who cherishes a good heart.

Hope you enjoyed reading this blog post, feel free to share with your contacts and if you have comments or questions, don’t hesitate to use the comment box.

Please don’t forget to say a word of prayer for Nigeria. Je t’aime mon ami🤗❤🤗