People who are seeking out help and guidance might be told, "Just follow your heart." But Pastor Shane Pruitt, director of Missions for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, believes that advice is wrong.
"Now that advice may be well-meaning by someone who believes it's true, or perhaps by someone who doesn't know what else to say, or even worse it's lazily given by someone with a dismissive attitude wanting to move on from the conversation," Pruitt writes in an article for The Christian Post. "However, if this is how we make life-altering decisions about topics like career path, which school to attend, relationships, when to speak up or when to stay silent, shouldn't we really consider what that overly used statement really means?"
Pruitt says that to follow one's heart is to follow one's feelings, desires, and emotions. But to do so is "horrifically dangerous" since these things change all the time.
"They can change with a phone call, a word of criticism, or a traffic jam. If we truly followed them, we'd be all over the map with our decisions," says Pruitt.
Even the Bible warns Christians about being fooled by their hearts, says Pruitt. The matters of the heart are even discussed over 300 times in the Bible. For example, Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?"
So instead of following one's heart, Pruitt says it would be better if Christians follow God instead. God will never lead Christians to do anything harmful; and in following Him, Christians will constantly shape and mould their lives through the power of His Spirit.
The only real battle here is that Christians must always remember the truth. Whenever their hearts are trying to get the better of their lives, they should always keep in mind that God is stronger than their hearts.
