There are times in life when we don't know what to do. A curveball may be thrown, a difficult fork in the road appears, or two seemingly good options may present themselves. When we are left to make decisions like this it's important to remember this: don't follow your heart.
This may be confusing to hear since it's everywhere we go. Our favorite songs talk about it, movies mention it, and so on...
Recently, Pastor Andy gave a sermon where he mentioned Jeremiah 17:9—"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" Should we follow our heart? Not according to Jeremiah.
Following Jesus does not involve following your heart too. We must distinguish these two things, and recognize that one of these will lead us astray. Without going into much Bible study, Jeremiah sums it up pretty well for us. Our heart is deceitful.
The reality is that following your heart is selfish (yep, I just went there). When someone says to follow your heart, they mean to do whatever you feel. And this is not godliness.
We must learn to never make decisions based upon how we feel in a given moment. Before making a big decision, that our heart leads us to make, look at Scripture to see if a decision has been made for us. The direction the Bible gives is the one to freedom and life.
Following God involves surrendering your own agenda to pick up God's. It's about laying down your own wants and desires to hold God's. This doesn't happen if you're following your own heart.
The heart is misleading. It's confused. It does not always lead us in the right direction. Furthermore, the whole world is already following their own heart. Is the world heading in the direction of God? Why should we expect good things to come to fruition if we do what the world is doing?
We are not to be like the world. We are to follow God, not our own hearts.
The Apostle Paul drops some instruction for us. "If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit" (Galatians 5:25). Following the Spirit isn't a one-time event—it's a way of life. Each morning, noon, and night we are to ask ourselves, "What does God want of me? Is he at work around me? What is he up to? Is he leading me to join him?" This is how we are to be led.
It's a humbling thing to hear something like this, since we've been doing it our entire life; but, this is better. This is what God asks of us. Instead of taking someone's advice to follow your heart, stop and test that advice. Rather than following what our heart wants, we should follow God and head towards what he wants.