Follow your heart or yield it?
“Follow your heart.” We have all undoubtedly heard this phrase before. Thousands of movies, TV shows, and other forms of entertainment have thrived with this message as their primary theme. I am reminded of one of my favorite childhood movies, The Sandlot. For those of you who have not seen the movie, there is a scene where one of the main characters, Benny, is talking with Babe Ruth in a dream. Benny is in the middle of a big decision, and Babe Ruth appears to him in a dream to help guide him. In the dream, Babe Ruth’s advice to Benny is to follow his heart. The Babe’s exact words are, “Just follow your heart, kid. You can never go wrong.”My stomach drops a little when I think of how dangerous of a message this really is. Benny’s conversation with Babe Ruth is the pivotal scene in the movie. One could argue that Babe’s message is the central theme of the entire movie. I, like most people who watch the movie, became captivated when I saw Benny follow his heart. Benny ends up saving the day, and becoming the hero of the story. But does that make it the right message? I am not picking on The Sandlot. I still enjoy watching the movie, and it is only one example of thousands of movies with this same message. The message that is being portrayed is, “Follow your heart, and just go with what you feel. If it feels right, then it probably is.” It’s this message that I find a bit unnerving.What I find the most interesting is that, when we look to God’s word, we find a drastically different message. Jeremiah 17: 9 tells us that, “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked.” Matthew 15: 19 relays the same message when it says, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” I read these things and I can’t help but notice that they sound a bit different from the message we all know and love that tells us to follow our hearts.The purpose of this blog is to present ideas that shift our current patterns of thinking. It is meant to challenge us, and provoke potentially new patterns of thought. It doesn’t mean that the person writing is always 100% correct, but it does mean that the content should at least move readers to contemplate the ideas being presented. That being said, I have proposed the thought that I find to be dangerous and misleading. Let me propose the thought that I believe is the truth found in God’s word. Rather than follow our heart, I propose that God asks us to yield our heart. To follow your heart implies that the desires of your heart are more important than the desires of God’s heart. To yield your heart implies that His desires are more important than your own.That may sound a bit harsh, but the truth of the matter is that yielding our hearts is in our best interest as well. God’s word says that if we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our heart (Psalm 37:4). That is to say, when we yield to Him, our desires become more like His. We begin to desire love, relationships, peace, hope, joy, etc. These are gifts the Lord is happy to bestow upon us when our hearts are placed into His hands. These gifts, when yielded to God, do nothing but further His message of truth, hope and love to a hurting and broken world.Personally, I know that my heart is not fully yielded. I know that there are areas that I selfishly want to hold onto and follow, rather than entrusting them to God. I am so grateful that we serve a loving and merciful savior, who patiently walks with us until we are able to trust Him and yield these things to His will. This is my prayer today, and I hope that it will be yours as well. “God, in what areas am I still following my own heart, instead of yielding to your perfect heart? Open my eyes to that next thing you want me to hand over and entrust to you, and then please grant me the courage to yield it.” Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3: 5-6).