by Stephen R. Clark
Common pop “wisdom” found in romantic comedies and song lyrics is “The heart wants what the heart wants.” Often, it’s employed to excuse impulsive behavior. While this could be as mundane as indulging in too much chocolate, this wisdom is often related to questionable relationship choices.
The implication is that our desires erupt within us unbidden, uncontrollable, and they must be answered. In other words, we have no choice but to act on these desires. Not following these random passions is considered unthinkable because, you know, “The heart wants what the heart wants.”
What’s truly unthinkable is believing our desires are not based on our choices. Otherwise, why would Scripture warn us in Proverbs 4:23 to “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life” (NLT)?
In fact, Jesus cautioned that “what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander” (Matthew 15:18, 19).
How do all these things get into our hearts? We put them there. If we treasure greed, lust, sex, darkness, and avarice in our hearts, our desires will grow from them.
Another bit of pop wisdom is to follow or listen to your heart. But Scripture counters with a caution: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).
What are we to do? Like Paul, we want to cry out, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24). It comes down to treasuring the right things in our hearts. As Paul says, “I delight in the law of God, in my inner being” (v. 22).
Going back to Jeremiah and adding context, the solution becomes clear:
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit”
(17:7, 8).
To ensure our hearts want the right things, we need to place our trust solidly in the Lord. We need to feed our hearts on the deep truths of God’s Word. It is through treasuring and immersing ourselves in the words God has spoken — the Bible — that our hearts can become healthy.
When computer programs go awry, it’s often due to bad code. The programmer’s mantra is “Garbage in, garbage out,” meaning that if someone botched the code to begin with, then the program will deliver untrustworthy results.
The same is true with how we program our hearts. If we put garbage in, we will get faulty results.
Instead, if we treasure in our hearts love, peace, generosity, selflessness, compassion, grace, and the like, the results will be more of the same. What are you putting into you?
