Reading: Proverbs 16:1-18:24

Our heart can deceive us if we don’t take the time to prepare and cultivate it every day. The first thoughts of our day are usually about being right and being pure in our motives, priorities and desires. We must perform a daily heart check because our hearts are the navigators of our day.

Scriptures teach us to check the source of our wisdom, our motives and the outcome of what we’re pursuing. John Maxwell gives 5 key words that can help us to check our hearts and navigate our way through life:

1. Process: God’s plan usually unfolds over time. What’s He revealing to you progressively? Do today’s plans contribute to the process that’s been unfolding? Or are you starting something else before finishing what’s in process?
2. Purpose: God wants to accomplish His purposes. Why were you created? Are my plans and goals today contributing to my God given purpose?
3. Potential: God will use your gifts and passion. Do your goals fit who you are? Are you aiming high enough, or too high?
4. Prioritize: God will ask you to adjust your time and energy. What steps must you take? Are you doing the first things first or what you like first?
5. Proceed: God will eventually require you to act. When should you start? Are you starting too many things at the same time? What should you consider stopping or finishing?

We commit our ways to the Lord when we challenge them and question them according to God’s Word. The results of this scriptural positioning of our hearts are worth it. It keeps us humble, establishes us and makes us accountable and focused.

It is one thing to prepare our hearts; it’s another thing to keep our hearts right throughout the day. We do that by choosing our words wisely, keeping our thoughts in the light and being winsome with those we encounter. The life of your day comes from the words that you say. Words are the fruit-makers and success-builders of our lives.