Truth and the Heart

Follow your heart, or not follow your heart? That is the question. 

Last week, Don talked about having a heart of humility, the same humility as Christ had. The humility of emptying himself of the glory and honor that is rightfully his, to take on the nature of a servant and humble himself in obedience to the point of his death on the cross.
 
The heart is the seat of our thoughts, passions, desires, and affections. It is at the center of who we are. So, it makes sense to have and follow a humble heart, a heart of humility of our thoughts, passion, desires, affections, and endeavors. 

The Bible also says that we are to love God with all our heart (Deuteronomy 6:5) and we are to trust him with all our heart (Proverbs 3:5-6). So, again it makes sense to follow our heart or follow our thoughts, passions, desires, and affections. However, the Bible also tells us, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9). It tells us that out of the heart come “evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander” (Matthew 15:19). Colossians 2:8 says, “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.” 

So, because the heart is central to who we are as individuals, there is an apparent quandary of either following your heart or not following your heart. We will look to see if “following your heart” is a hollow and deceptive philosophy or human tradition; and if so, we will see what the role of the heart is.