There’s a lovely Hasidic story of a rabbi who always told his people that if they studied the Torah, it would put Scriptures on their hearts.
One of them asked, “Why on our hearts, and not in them?”
The rabbi answered, “Only God can put Scriptures inside. But reading sacred texts can put it on your hearts, and then when your hearts break, the holy words will fall inside.”
From Anne Lamott’s book, Plan B
“What does your heart say?”
“Do what your heart tells you.”
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
This is one of the dumbest things we can tell ourselves and others.
Absolutely not, under no circumstances, go with your heart.
Our hearts cannot be trusted. Our hearts are fickle. It is unreliable. It is amoral. It has no boundaries. It has no loyalties.
I struggle with my heart all the time. I know what to do. I know what God’s word says. But my freaking heart doesn’t like what God says. So everything in me, all of me, every fiber of my being wants to do this thing. And, yet, God’s word tells me do this other thing. And my heart fights with all its might against God’s truth and God’s will.
My heart is my enemy. It betrays me.
I want to do what God wants me to do, but there are so many times my heart, flat out, betrays me because it seeks to do that opposite of what God wants.
So what are we to do?
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5).
This is much easier said than done. I struggle with my heart multiple times a day. Multiple times a day, my heart betrays me. I have to continually realign my heart, flesh, and mind to God.
Under no circumstances, absolutely not, never ever trust your heart.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart.
“What does your heart tell you?”
“Follow your heart.”
Sounds right. It makes for great movies and stories. The main character pursuing what they know to be right, but their heart being tugged in a different direction…and in the critical moment, they choose to follow after their heart…and everything ends up happy ever after.
Everything…happy…ever after.
Yeah. That happens in the movies. That rarely happens in real life.
The problem with the heart is that the heart is wrong more often than not. At one time the heart thought Lisa was the one…then it thought Jane was the one…then at another time, the heart was sure Jenny was the one…The heart lies. The heart has no clue.
The heart has no boundaries. The heart has no concern for morals. The heart doesn’t have any other loyalty other than getting its desires met NOW!
Thing is, people have followed after their hearts and left their spouse and children, leaving devastation in its wake. Why? Because it felt so right. I was just following my heart.
People have followed their hearts and ignored all the warning signs, all the statistics, all reason that clearly showed it couldn’t possibly work out and find themselves in impossible and violent relationships.
The heart can’t be trusted.
So what do you do?
Do what’s good and right.
Things are good and right because…they are.
So please…for your sake…whatever you do…do not follow your heart. Do what’s right and good.
Praxis: Faith in Action 