Trusting in your Heart

Have you ever heard the statement (or others like it ) "follow your heart"?

 It looks so good, doesn't it. 

But be careful. This is such a dangerous statement!

I have long wondered about the fallacy of this statement, "follow your heart". It is a popular idea... just google image search it and find a whole heap of memes like the two above encouraging us to follow our hearts and not our heads. We are told to 'trust in what we are made of' and 'be happy', the obvious implication being that following our hearts will make us happy.

You see, our hearts are fickle. We can't just trust in how we are feeling. Feelings change. I might get up one day feeling grumpy, and be happy the next minute because my little sister gave me a note which said 'I love you'. Feelings are fickle. We cannot trust our hearts because they change. 

There is also another reason why I believe that the popular idea of trusting in your heart and not your head is a dangerous place to be. It's because the Bible distinctly tells us not to.

Here is Proverbs 28:26, in three different translations because they are all slightly different.


Proverbs 28:26 
Those who trust in themselves are fools, but those who walk in wisdom are kept safe. (NIV)

He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered. (KJV) [emphasis added]

He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, But he who walks wisely will be delivered. (NASB) [emphasis added]

Ah! Whoever trusts in his own heart is a fool! Interesting, isn't it!
Here's another verse that shows why we shouldn't rely on listening to our hearts.



Jeremiah 17:9.
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked..... (KJV)

Let me put this all into context for you. Let's say, for example, that there is a big decision coming up for you. One way looks really good. It is the easy way... the way that pulls at your heart strings. It looks good. 

The other way doesn't look so good. It is the hard way. The difficult way. Yet as the Bible says, hard work brings a profit. Sometimes we have to be willing to work for what we want. :) I know, horrible thought!

The easy way tugs at your heart. The difficult way is the best way, but you have to learn to look past what your heart says and think about what is really the appropriate decision in the circumstances, based not on how you feel, but what the Lord wants. Pray about it. Ask the Lord for help. Don't just jump straight into it without considering everything! 

Make sure your heart is governed by your head.