I once made the mistake of running a pair of my son’s pants through the washer and dryer with several other articles of clothing. The problem? Rather than zips or snaps or buttons, the fly of these pants closed with a Velcro strip. Because I failed to protect the rest of my laundry by closing the Velcro flap, I ruined a silk blouse, a pair of pantyhose, and several other articles of clothing while peeling them from the Velcro’s fierce grip.
The heart is literally and figuratively the core of all you are and all you experience in life, so when God says to guard it above all else, He is saying, “Protect the source of your life⎯the physical, spiritual, and emotional source of your well-being.”

Excerpted from Every Woman’s Battle: Discovering God’s Plan for Sexual and Emotional Fulfillment by Shannon Ethridge. Copyright 2003. All Rights Reserved. Published by WaterBrook Press, Colorado Springs, CO 80921. Used by Permission. Not to be copied without Publisher’s prior written approval.