In our culture today we are constantly being bombarded with the idea that if you want true happiness in life then “follow your heart.” According to Jon Bloom: “Essentially, it’s a belief that your heart is a compass inside of you that will direct you to your own true north if you just have the courage to follow it. It says that your heart is a true guide that will lead you to true happiness if you just have the courage to listen to it. The creed says that you are lost and your heart will save you.”1
The only problem with this mantra is that our hearts, according to Scripture, are totally incapable of delivering real happiness. (Jeremiah 17:9) puts it this way: “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” In fact, after the Fall, our heart became incapable of leading us to freedom, peace, joy, and happiness since it is fatally flawed and has become the seat of selfishness and self-gratification. Not only that but out of our heart proceeds great evil for we read in (Matthew 15:19): “For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.” The sad truth is that no one lies to us more than our own heart.
Again, Jon Bloom hit the nail on the head when he stated: “No, our hearts will not save us. We need to be saved from our hearts…because what’s wrong with our hearts is the heart of our problem.”2 R. C. Sproul went one step further when he shared: “Our calling isn’t to follow our hearts. Our calling is to have our hearts informed and directed by the clear and plain teaching of the Word of God.”3 In other words we are to follow Jesus, for not only did He say: “…I am the way and the truth and the life…” (John 14:6), but He also said: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:29).
My friends even when we turn our lives over to Jesus and He gives us a new heart, our old sinful heart still dwells within us, and we need the Holy Spirit to overrule the thoughts and intents of this sinful vessel. When we do this we will be able to walk in victory and experience the true joy of the Lord and the sweet fellowship of walking with Jesus. So, follow Jesus, and I guarantee you will enjoy this journey called life!
1 Don’t Follow Your Heart | Desiring God
2 Don’t Follow Your Heart | Desiring God
3Amanda Kunitza on X: ““Our calling isn’t to follow our hearts. Our calling is to have our hearts informed and directed by the clear and plain teaching of the Word of God.” ~ R. C. Sproul” / X (twitter.com)
Don’t Follow Your Heart. Follow Jesus. (Because Your Heart Is Not a Compass, It’s a Con Artist.)
By the Apologist
Here are the 3 load-bearing truths Curt is smacking with a hammer:
1. “Follow your heart.”
Well, sweeties, It’s a modern creed, not a Christian one.
It preaches that you’re “lost” and your heart will “save” you if you just trust it. That’s not discipleship. That’s self-worship with nicer branding.
2. Your heart is not neutral. It’s corrupted.
The heart is not a trustworthy guide — it is a spiritual battleground.
Scripture doesn’t call the heart “authentic.” It calls it deceitful and dangerously bent. Jesus says the heart is where evil spills out of a person.
So, if you hand the steering wheel to your heart, don’t act shocked when you end up in a ditch.
3. The fix is not “trust yourself more.” The fix is “submit yourself more.”
The calling is hearts informed and directed by God’s Word, then carried by Christ’s yoke, then overruled by the Holy Spirit because the old sinful circuitry still lives in us.
Now here’s the mission railgun for ya:
People say “I’m just following my heart,” like that sentence ends arguments and pays bills. It doesn’t.
It just baptizes impulse. Your heart will absolutely guide you… straight toward whatever makes you feel powerful, satisfied, justified, or numb today.
That’s why Curt’s line lands like a sledgehammer: no one lies to you more consistently… than you.
Merry Christmas, dearies.
Jesus doesn’t recruit hearts as leaders. He redeems them as followers. My past sermon, and especially a plethora of Mr. Blattman’s commentaries, kinda nail the mechanism:
…Prayer, done scripturally and submitted to God, is where the Holy Spirit gets threaded into our minds and hearts to deliver God’s will through our lives.
Prayer is the deciding factor in the spirit conflict.
That’s warfare language for a reason. We ain’t strolling through a spa, we’re fighting for our souls. But it is hot out there, isn’t it?
So the “heart-led life” isn’t courageous, it’s naïve. The mature move is this: ….listen…
Moses learned it in solitude. Samuel learned it early. We learn it by letting Scripture discipline our judgment, not by treating our emotions like prophets.
Curt says we must follow Jesus, not our hearts. How?
…through prayer that aligns our desires with God’s will.
When Jesus teaches us to pray,
“Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done,”
He is not giving us poetry. He is giving us heart surgery.
The heart cannot lead you to God.
But prayer can lead your heart to God.
So when someone says, “My heart told me…” the Christian answer is: “Cool. What did Jesus say?” Because your heart can feel sincere while being sincerely wrong.
Jesus is not a vibe. He’s Lord. And prayer is the line that keeps you connected to Him while the battlefield enemy tries to cut the wire.
If your heart is your shepherd, you’ll graze wherever you feel safe. If Jesus is your Shepherd, you’ll walk through fire and still end up home.
thanks Curt!🐑🔥