Guard Your Treasures: A Guide to Protecting What Matters Most

Overview of the Topic

When you were a kid, you probably had a treasure chest of some kind—maybe a shoebox or a fancy one with a lock. Inside you kept the things that mattered most to you. You protected it, hid it, and only shared it with people you trusted.

That same principle applies to your adult life, but the treasures aren't toys or trinkets anymore. They're the possessions of your soul—your feelings, your thoughts, your desires, your loves, your very identity. As Jesus reminded us, "A person's life doesn't consist of their possessions." Your real life is lived on the inside, in your heart and mind, your passions and spirit.

This is why boundaries matter. If there were nothing worth protecting, why would we need boundaries at all? The whole point of a property line is that something valuable lives inside it. Your boundary—your ability to say yes to some things and no to others—exists to protect your treasures. So before we can talk about how to set boundaries, we need to know what we're protecting.

What Usually Goes Wrong

We forget we have treasures to protect. Life gets busy. We focus on work, family, obligations. Somewhere along the way, we stop paying attention to our own souls. We stop asking, "How am I really doing?" and just keep running.

We neglect to steward what's ours. Just like a shotgun needs to be oiled and a car needs regular maintenance, our inner treasures need attention. When we ignore them, they rust, break down, and lose their value—not because someone took them, but because we stopped caring for them.

We let others trample what we should protect. We give people access to our hearts who don't respect what's inside. We share our dreams with critics, our vulnerabilities with unsafe people, our time with anyone who asks. Jesus said, "Don't cast your pearls before swine." That sounds harsh, but it's wisdom—evaluate who gets access to your treasures.

We blame our condition on circumstances instead of taking ownership. It's easier to say "I have no choice" than to admit "I'm choosing this." It's easier to resent others than to ask what we're doing—or not doing—that keeps us stuck.

We medicate instead of address. When our real desires go unfulfilled, we compensate. We eat, scroll, shop, drink, or binge—anything to dull the ache of neglected treasures. But medicating never satisfies; it only delays the reckoning.

What Health Looks Like

A person who guards their treasures well can answer two questions about every area of their inner life:

1. Am I stewarding this treasure? Am I paying attention to it, nurturing it, taking responsibility for its condition?
2. Am I protecting this treasure? Am I keeping out people and influences that would damage, diminish, or rob me of it?

Healthy people regularly take a "treasure audit"—an honest look at the state of their soul. They don't wait until burnout, depression, or relational disaster forces them to pay attention. They proactively assess what's going well and what needs work.

They understand that they have control over these treasures. Outside forces can influence them, but ultimately, we decide how we'll steward and protect what's ours. This isn't about control in a white-knuckle, anxious sense. It's about ownership—accepting that no one else is responsible for the condition of our inner life.

And when they discover an area that's been neglected or violated, they don't shame themselves. They get curious, take responsibility, and start doing something about it.

The Ten Treasures: Your Personal Audit

Dr. Cloud identifies ten treasures that live within your boundaries—ten areas that need both stewarding and protecting. Go through each one and ask yourself: How am I doing here? Am I nurturing this, or neglecting it? Am I protecting this, or letting others damage it?

1. Your Feelings

Are you paying attention to your emotional life, or ignoring how you actually feel? Are you walking around with crummy feelings you're telling yourself you "shouldn't" have? Or are you allowing someone else's behavior to keep you anxious, sad, or angry?

2. Your Attitudes

Your outlook shapes your experience. Two people can face the same situation—one sees opportunity, the other sees disaster. Are you taking ownership of your attitude, or letting circumstances and other people determine your outlook?

3. Your Behaviors

You are the one writing the checks, saying the words, making the choices. When we stop excusing our behavior and start owning it, everything changes. Ask: Could someone look at my behavior and reasonably guess what I actually want? Or do my actions contradict my stated goals?

4. Your Choices

People who see themselves as having choices are the healthiest and happiest. People who see themselves as choiceless become victims. You may not like your options, but you always have them. Are you owning your choices—even the hard ones?

5. Your Limits

We all have limits—in time, energy, money, capacity. Are you acknowledging yours, or pretending you can do everything? And are you setting limits on how far other people's problems can spill into your life?

6. Your Thoughts

Your thoughts are your sheep—make them jump over the fence. We can't immediately change our thinking, but over time, with practice, we can. Are you taking ownership of your thought patterns? Are you letting others gaslight you or fill your head with criticism that isn't true?

7. Your Values

Have you ever written down what you actually value? Your life will take the direction of your values. When you're clear on what matters, decisions get simpler. Are you living according to your values, or have you lost track of what they even are?

8. Your Talents

What are you good at? What has everyone always told you that you do well? Are you using that ability, developing it, investing in it? Or are you letting it sit dormant—either through your own neglect or because someone told you that you weren't good enough?

9. Your Desires

A desire fulfilled is a tree of life. Hope deferred makes the heart sick. Are you in touch with what you actually want—not what you think you should want, but what stirs your soul? Or have you ignored your desires so long you've forgotten they exist?

10. Your Loves

What and who do you love? Are you expressing and nurturing those loves, or concealing them? Love that's hidden can't grow. Are you guarding your heart with diligence, tending it like a garden?

Practical Application

This Week: Conduct Your Own Treasure Audit

1. Rate each treasure on a scale of 1-10. For each of the ten areas, ask: "How well am I doing at stewarding and protecting this?" Be honest. No one's watching.

2. Identify your most neglected treasure. Which one has been gathering dust? Which have you been ignoring the longest? Pick one to focus on.

3. Identify your most violated treasure. Is there an area where you've been letting others damage what's yours? Where have you been casting pearls before swine?

4. Take one concrete action. This week, do one thing to steward or protect the treasure you identified. It doesn't have to be dramatic. Small steps count.

5. Tell someone. Growth happens faster in community. Share your audit with a trusted friend, spouse, or counselor. Ask them to check in with you.

Common Questions & Misconceptions

Q: Isn't focusing on my own treasures selfish?

Stewarding your soul isn't selfishness—it's responsibility. Jesus said to love your neighbor as yourself, which assumes you're taking care of yourself. You can't give what you don't have. A depleted person can only offer depleted love.

Q: What if I don't have control over my circumstances?

You may not control your circumstances, but you always have some control over your responses—your attitudes, your choices, your limits, your thoughts. Owning what you can control keeps you from becoming a victim of what you can't.

Q: I've been neglecting some of these areas for years. Is it too late?

It's not too late. Treasures can be restored. But restoration takes time and intentionality. The audit isn't meant to shame you—it's meant to show you where to focus your energy. Start where you are.

Q: What if someone else keeps violating my treasures and won't stop?

This is where boundaries become essential. You may not be able to change their behavior, but you can control their access. You decide who gets inside your property line. If someone repeatedly damages what you're trying to protect, it may be time to change the locks.

Q: Some of these treasures feel broken, not just neglected. What then?

If a treasure has been deeply damaged—by trauma, abuse, or prolonged neglect—you may need more than a personal audit. Consider working with a counselor who can help you grieve what was lost and rebuild what was broken. Getting professional support isn't weakness; it's wisdom.

Closing Encouragement

Your life is full of treasures. Not the kind you put in a bank account, but the kind that make life worth living—your passions, your loves, your values, your very self.

Some of those treasures may be in rough shape right now. Maybe they've been neglected. Maybe they've been stepped on. Maybe you haven't looked at them in so long you'd forgotten they were there.

That's okay. The audit isn't a test—it's an invitation. An invitation to pay attention. To take ownership. To stop blaming and start building. To lock the door against those who don't respect what's inside, and to open it wide to those who do.

Your treasures are worth protecting. They're worth nurturing. They're worth your attention and your effort.

Guard them well.