Guard the Heart or Lose the Crown
How Solomon’s drift is a life-changing lesson on guarding our hearts.
Well, let’s get to the heart of the matter on this last installment of a few leadership lessons from King Solomon.
….Guard your heart
1 Kings 11:4
“His heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God.”
Do you see that statement? Quite the contrast to his father (King David), who was a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). King Solomon’s heart was turned from the Lord. He gave God the military “About Face.” His actions expose the danger of an unguarded inner life that spiritual leaders will face, no matter who we are. Godly leaders must pursue obedience to God’s command. We need a perpetual “Yes” in our hearts.
What I learned about Solomon’s collapse is that it was not sudden sin; it was a slow drift. What makes a spiritual leader drift? The same as any son or daughter of the Lord: an unguarded heart full of hubris and disobedience.
The Bible consistently treats the heart as sacred ground.
“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23).
Ironically, these words come from Solomon himself. It’s a warning written with wisdom, yet proven by his experience. I believe he was begging us to know that guarding the heart is not optional for leaders. More like, foundational. Everything else flows from it. Our judgment, worship, obedience, and influence.
Solomon is a serious case study. His unguarded heart first revealed itself in defiance. He knew better. Divine loyalty was in his DNA. He defied God, who fiercely warned Israel not to intermarry with nations that served other gods (Deuteronomy 7:3–4), not out of prejudice, but protection. Solomon ignored the warning, trusting his wisdom to manage what God had clearly forbidden.
In other Scriptural headlines, we find out that:
“His wives turned away his heart.”
Notice that his mind was still sharp, his kingdom still functioning, but his heart was being reshaped. That is how the drift works. In my estimation, it rarely attacks our doctrine or intellect; it targets our affections.
Jesus preaches on this principle in Matthew 6:21, when He says,
“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
If you keep reading in his story, Solomon’s treasures multiplied. He possessed more gold, influence, and relationships than any other person. It’s a clear message for Christ-centered leaders: the more hubris we experience, the more our affections will spread thin, and our allegiance weakens. It’s almost as if the heart is relocating love for the one true God to the false idols of the land.
Solomon begins by building altars to the gods Chemosh and Molech, which are directly opposed to the Lord. This is diabolical if you are familiar with his prayer in 1 Kings 8, where he dedicates the temple and pleads for Israel’s faithfulness. So, let me get this straight: the same hands that lifted in worship now sanction idolatry? That’s the cost of neglecting the inner life:
“Yesterday’s prayers do not protect today’s obedience.”
Now, God responds. He does not immediately remove Solomon, but He speaks clearly:
“Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant, I will surely tear the kingdom from you” (1 Kings 11:11).
What’s important to know is that leadership continues outwardly, but divine favor withdraws inwardly. Pay close attention, though. Solomon’s first loss is not the throne, but influence with God. Scripture teaches this in many places for spiritual leaders. Samson loses strength when he gives away what was meant to be guarded (Judges 16). David does not fall on the battlefield, but at rest, when his vigilance fades (2 Samuel 11). In each case, the spiritual leader has drifted away from the assignment’s instructions. Haven’t we all been there?
Contrasting Solomon with Jesus Christ, we see that Jesus lives a relentless heart-guarding life. He withdraws to pray (Luke 5:16). He resists temptation by anchoring Himself in Scripture (Matthew 4). He loves people deeply without surrendering obedience. When offered the kingdoms of the world without the cross, He refuses (Matthew 4:8–10). Where Solomon opened doors, Jesus closed them. Jesus fulfills what Solomon warned but could not sustain: a heart wholly devoted to God. As my father used to say to me:
“Jesus is the patterned son. Follow Him.”
What does this mean for spiritual leaders today?
Guard your heart when life is quiet.
Guard it when success multiplies.
Guard it when compromise feels reasonable.
Guard it when you think wisdom alone will keep you safe.
Guard it by praying it hot in the Lord’s presence.
Guard it because your children’s divine purpose is attached to its obedience to God.
“An unguarded heart doesn’t collapse under pressure; it erodes under permission.”
Solomon’s leadership story teaches us that we will lose any crown we willingly hand over to the enemy, who will gladly take it through the wandering of our affections. Stay in the Lord and on guard!
-bW