Truth My Kids Will Know - DON'T Follow Your Heart

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 Lie # 25 - "Just Follow Your Heart"

"Trust your heart, let fate decide, to guide these lives we see..." -  Phil Collins - Two Worlds, One Family | Tarzan
"Tell me princess, now when did you last let your heart decide?" - Brad Kane - A Whole New World | Aladdin
"No right, no wrong, no rules for me. I'm free!" - Idina Menzel - Let It Go | Frozen

The culture around us and swallowed this lie hook, line, and sinker. "If you just follow your heart, you can't go wrong." I call this idea the "Disney Doctrine" - because it's saturated every product that company has produced. It seems to be the message of every "mouse-eared" TV show, cartoon, movie, book, toy and slogan you'll ever see. And the thought has completely transformed the generations that have grown up hearing it.

There are too many young people right now who absolutely refuse to hear logical arguments of right and wrong. They've adopted the worldview that life should "feel right" to them. After all, if something feels right "in their heart" - then who are you to tell them that it's wrong? If something feels good to them, then it must actually be good.

Unfortunately, those of us with some years behind us know how disastrous that can be.
Proverbs 28:26 - "He who trusts in his own heart is a fool..."

 - How many girls have chased a guy "because it feels right"...only to be crushed by him later?
 - How many kids have had their lives destroyed because of friendships that felt right at the time?
 - How many life-changing permanent decisions are being made right now because someone is confused about what they "feel" is right?

Sadly, if someone won't listen to the truth now, then they will wish they had later.
Everyone will eventually discover how stupid their own heart is.

Life Isn't Supposed to Feel Good All The Time

There's a band that was popular when I was growing up called FM Static. They have a brilliant line in one of their songs that applies here: "You can't trust what you think you know. Don't follow that yellow brick road, when your brain says 'stop' but your heart says 'go'." 

I'm not tell you that you need to live a life that lacks feeling. I know that feelings are what make life fun and exciting. But I am telling you that you can't afford to trust your feelings. If your heart is telling you to make a certain decision, but all the facts, all the logic, and the every older person around you says that it's a bad idea...then pump the brakes!

Remember this: While your feelings can be awesome passengers to bring along in life, they make horrible drivers!
Jeremiah 17:9 - "The heart [your emotions and feelings] is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it?"

There are some things that feel great, but will destroy your life. There are also other things that feel terrible, and are actually what's best for you.
Going a step further than that; there are things that feel terrible, but are the only right thing to do.

And that's the key: Forget following your heart, is what you're about to do RIGHT?

God Gave You A Better Guide

God gave us our emotions...and I'm so grateful that He did! Feelings of happiness and joy make the good times even better. Feelings of peace can make times of rest that much sweeter. Fear makes courage even stronger. Even sorrow and loneliness can deepen and strengthen the relationships that already exist. Your feelings are a gift from God meant to compliment your experiences in life.

But He did NOT intend for them to make your decisions or direct your behavior. 

No, God gave you another guide for that. 
Psalm 119:105 NIrV - "Your Word is like a lamp that shows me the way. It is like a light that guides me." 

Young lady; when your heart says that you "love" that guy, but God's Word says not to be tied together with unbelievers...it's that latter that should guide your decision.
Young man; when your heart says that your masculine anatomy is incorrect, but God's Word says you're wonderfully made as a male...let His Word be your guide, not your heart!

In this crazy, emotional, chaotic life, how awesome is it that God gave us a concrete and unchangeable guide? When my own heart has shifted and flowed like changing sand in a desert - I'm so grateful to have His Word like a solid rock to build my life on. 

While their peers are chasing their hearts in circles, my kids will know this truth: Following God's Word will produce a better life than following my heart.

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