Through the years your author has listened to people who, with great emotional conviction, claim to have seen their guardian angel. However, it is extremely important for us always to confirm what we believe, including those things we want to believe, with the clear testimony of God’s written Word. The Holy Scriptures must be our absolute standard for what we believe on any subject. But what do the Scriptures teach about having guardian angels?

There are actually no passages in God’s Word that tell us that we, or anyone else, have a guardian angel. Nonetheless, our text in Matthew 18:10 is sometimes used to bolster this concept. It records the Lord Jesus saying, “Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.” Note that our Lord did NOT say any Jewish believer had a guardian angel. We must be slow to draw this conclusion, unless it is clearly stated and then corroborated by other Scriptures that plainly teach such a concept. From Hebrews 1:14 we learn that, at least when it came to Israel in the past, angels were God’s “ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation.” The Scriptures record multiple instances of God sending angels to minister to individuals, but they are never referred to as a guardian angel nor that they remained permanently with any individual. Matthew 18:10 is only saying that angels, in general, ministered to Jewish saints in different ways, at the specific bidding of the Lord, and that these angels collectively have a direct audience with God the Father. Nothing more is intended.

Is our condition somehow diminished not to have a guardian angel? The answer is “no,” not at all. We are already blessed with “all spiritual blessings in heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:3). We have the completed Word of God to guide and empower us each day. The Spirit of God now indwells every believer to comfort, strengthen, teach, and guide us. We also know that even when trials arise, God is able to make “all things work for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). We simply need nothing else. Therefore, rest and rejoice in your blessed condition, which is far better than having a guardian angel.