Follow Your Heart - A Biblical Perspective

We live in a culture that says things like “follow your heart,” and "listen to your heart". These catchphrases assume that we can trust our deepest desires and that by being authentic, we can experience true freedom. 

This erroneous, and even, I would argue, deceitful and destructive view, is rooted in the belief that humans are fundamentally good and that inner feelings are a reliable moral guide (see Philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau for a more in-depth explanation). 

Jesus, however, teaches that the heart is the source of sin—“out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery” (Matthew 15:19). This reflecting a view that humanity is fallen and internally disordered. Culture assumes the heart starts out as pure and eventually this world corrupts it. However, the Bible teaches that the heart is deceitful above all else (Jeremiah 17:9) and needs redemption. 

Following Jesus does not call us to suppress our desires but to have them transformed (Romans 12:1-2). The heart must be examined (Psalm 139:23), guarded (Proverbs 4:23), and renewed by God (Psalm 51:10). 

Rather than blindly following what we want, or what we think we want at the time, Christ-followers are called to surrender their hearts so they can be radically changed by the Holy Spirit. True freedom comes not from self-trust but from trusting in Christ, who redeems our hearts to align
with God’s will.