The title was supposed to catch your eye. That is because it is completely counter-cultural. Everything in the world today is shouting the same thing: “Follow your heart!” There is literally a company named after the famous slogan. People have it tattooed on themselves, written on their phones, and posted as their screensavers, reminding themselves daily what is most important in life: to follow their hearts.
So why did I decide to write a post completely against this wave of influence? Because with Luther: “I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen.”
Here are the scriptures I must quote:
He who trusts in his own heart is a fool,But he who walks wisely will be delivered.
Proverbs 28:26
The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; Who can understand it?
Jeremiah 17:9
Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.
Proverbs 4:23
There are plenty of other verses in scripture echoing the same idea: Your heart is wicked and deceitful, to follow it is foolish, rather trust in God who knows better than you and He will guide your every step.
Do This Instead
The above is a very basic concept and hopefully most readers understand it. However, I want to move on to something less talked about. The idea is as follows: at any given moment you are either letting your heart preach to you or you are preaching to your heart. Now we have already established that your heart is a wicked and heretical preacher. Therefore I want you to start cultivating the habit of preaching to your heart. Rather than letting your heart tell you how to feel, what to think, decide, say, do, etc you are doing to tell your heart what it ought to do.
How
Obviously I am going to give you the tools necessary to be able to practice this discipling of preaching to the heart. But really I need only give you one tool: The Word of God. How else do you think you will be able to preach? There are countless times where my heart wants to doubt, to fear, to fret, to worry, and as a result I end up acting out of those impulses of the heart. Rather than allowing this to happen I, instead, stand on the promises of God and boldly declare: “Heart, the Bible says: ‘Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.’” And then I act on it. Being a doer of the word.
You see, your heart thinks it can control you. Managing your thoughts, your desires, your actions, etc. That is not what God has intended for you. He purchased you with the incredible price of His own dear Son that He might put a heart of flesh in you. (Ez 11:19). Your heart was never made to rule over you. God was. God wants to control your thoughts, desires, actions, etc. The catch is that you have to let Him. Offering your body as a living sacrifice to God so that He can renew our minds and enable us to do the will of God on earth as it is in heaven. (Romans 12:1-2).
The takeaway here is that none of this is possible without the Word of God. You must learn to swing it correctly. Meditating on it daily, reading it, studying it, praying from it, and asking God to direct your heart, soul, and mind with it. Then and only then will you be able to quiet that heart of yours and begin acting on what scripture says instead.
Respond
- Thank God for His eternal plan of delivering you from having a heart of stone and giving you a heart of flesh made possible by the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
- Confess to God all the times you have allowed your heart to preach to you and control your actions, thoughts, and words.
- Ask God to help you swing His word correctly. To better handle the word of truth in order to preach to your heart.