The Heart of the Matter
The heart is the center of all human emotion, will, and thoughts. It expresses one’s innermost character, feelings, and natural inclinations. Regardless of how good our intentions may seem in any situation, our hearts can deceive us.
The Bible states in Jeremiah 17:9 (NLT), “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?” In speaking of the actual condition of the heart, Jesus stated in Mark 7:21-23, “For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.” Jesus gives us a clear picture of the human heart. But when we turn to Jesus Christ in faith, the Holy Spirit cleanses our hearts, transforming us into the image of Christ, making us more like Jesus, as we yield our lives to Him.
In our daily walk with Christ, we must guard our hearts, for they determine the course of our lives (Proverbs 4:23). Wrong thoughts lead to wrong emotions, which end in bad decisions. Therefore, we must carefully guard against unbelief, deception, bitterness, unforgiveness, envy, hypocrisy, anger, or any thought or emotion that leads us further away from the truth of God’s word.
You may have heard it said, “Follow your heart,” but it takes only a glance at the world around us to realize the devastating consequences of following that line of thought. Proverbs 28:26 warns us that he who trusts in his heart is a fool. To trust our hearts is to base truth on false reasoning and misleading emotions that almost always lead us astray. Therefore, we must lead our hearts in God’s way according to Proverbs 23:19. The Holy Spirit uses God’s word to correct and direct our hearts to please God. However, if we resist the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives, our hearts will become hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, unreceptive to the truth of God’s word, as some have done, having suffered many sorrows.
Follow not your heart nor the foolish wisdom of the world; align your heart with God’s truth. Choose to trust God and to walk in the light of His word. Proverbs 16:20 states, “Those who listen to instruction will prosper; those who trust the LORD will be joyful.”