Your Heart is a Bad Compass

Introduction

Whats Up inverted?

We just came back from the retreat, who loved it?

(talk about how powerful it was. Speak from the heart)

Like we said at the retreat, we are already planning next years retreat. We’ve got big plans for you guys.

Who remembers the series we’re in? (11th Commandment)

do you guys remember what the 11th commandment is about?

The 11th Commandment is a series about the phrases we hear so often that they start to sound biblical, even when they’re not. We looked at things like, “Only God can judge me,” from a few weeks ago or even, “All Sin is Equal” from this past sunday that pastor Omar preached and that was a powerful sermon.

The goal of this series is to take those popular sayings, compare them to what Scripture actually says, and make sure we’re building our lives on God’s truth instead of cultural ideas that only sound good.

Before we get into this sermon i have a few thing si want to ask you guys first and i need you guys to answer back with a head nod or something okay?

Have you ever had advice that sounded so good in the moment but then it just got you in trouble?

maybe that advice is “if everyone is doing it, so should you”

drugs

trends (cinnamon, skull breaker)

man a lot of times we trust advice because it may just sound genuine, or its popular, but that doesnt mean it wont let you down.

sometimes advice can be so dangerous for us but it doesnt sound bad in the moment.

how about this:

have you ever done something that “feels right” in the moment but it really just tears you down?

all nighters

buying designer clothes

crashing out (feeling justified in anger you lash out)

Guys, just because it sounds or feels right doesn't make it right.

I believe the phrase we are going to look at tonight completely is the embodiment of these dangers.

This phrase is something we hear from so many different movies, maybe friends or family that mean well have even said it to us before, but really this is one of the most dangerous phrases you can ever live by.

there are times where we do things that “feel right” or receive “bad advice” from others but i feel like God wants to expose this bad advice for what it truly is. I believe God wants to wake us up from letting it just “feel right” in our heart, and thats the lie that tells us to;

“FOLLOW YOUR HEART”

And guys, I know that sounds like good advice.

It sounds freeing.

It sounds encouraging.

It even sounds wise.

But here’s the question I want us to ask EVERYONE tonight:

What if your heart is wrong?

check this out and listen to me closely; because if I’m going to let something lead my life, I probably need to know whether or not I can actually trust it.

dont you guys agree? dont you feel the same way?

guys if my heart is going to determine who I date, how I respond when I’m angry, what I do when I’m tempted, what choices I make, and ultimately the direction of my life...

let me tell you something; I better make sure my heart actually knows where it’s going.

And Scripture gives us a warning about that.

Jeremiah 17:9 CSB

The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable—who can understand it?

This brings me to my first point tonight:

1. Your Heart Can Mislead You

Your heart can tell you something feels right while leading you in the completely wrong direction.

And if your heart can mislead you, then your heart was never meant to be your compass.

(give 5 minute testimony of first marriage) (specifically how we started dating, how she took advantage of me, how i ignored God’s signs to step away)

My heart wanted something so badly that I started calling what I wanted "right."

Guys, i couldve saved so much heart break if i had just trusted God from the beginning

I was so blind to what my heart wanted.

I’ve told most of you before my testimony of how i was ready to take my own life at one point and it that only happened because i misplaced my heart. I took away my heart from the hands of God and i delivered my heart to the flesh that i have.

your flesh is so misleading, and i was so hungry for attention because i was a nomad (talk about how I always moved every other year, i never had friends to establish)

I think what this has caused me to do is to run to the first thing that looks like it wont run away from me.

I end up lying to myself in the process because I want to feel valued and loved.

meanwhile God is in the room waving his arms saying:

“I have never left you, look over here, I can take care of your heart, i can make you feel loved because i truly love you”

but i wanted to instant gratification. I wanted physical touch. I wanted false love more than the real thing.

And this is the last thing i want for you guys.

but one thing that i can say for certain is that now that im healed i allowed God to redeem that time in my life by strengthening who i am in him and hes turned me into the man i am today.

and im grateful for that.

ultimately i try not top live with regrets because God has redeemed everything i did and have done. but sometimes i wonder how much hurt i couldve saved myself from if it wasnt for me falling for this lie of “follow your heart”.

And guys, that’s what I need you to understand tonight.

My heart wasn’t necessarily telling me, “Go destroy your life.”

My heart was telling me:

“This will make you happy.”

“This person will make you feel loved.”

“This is what you need.”

And because I wanted it badly enough, I believed it, that’s why Jeremiah says the heart is deceitful.

Sometimes your heart doesn’t lead you the wrong way by making something look terrible.

Sometimes your heart leads you the wrong way by making something wrong look right.

And maybe yours isn’t a relationship.

Maybe your heart tells you:

“I have every right to stay angry.”

“Everybody else is doing it.”

“I need their approval.”

“I know God says this, but I really want that.”

And eventually we have to realize something:

If my feelings can lie to me, then my feelings cannot be the foundation of my life.

So if I can’t build my decisions on what I feel… What am I supposed to build them on?

That brings me to Point 2:

2. YOUR FEELINGS NEED A FOUNDATION

So if my heart can mislead me, then I have to ask myself: What am I supposed to trust instead?

Because guys, I’m not telling you that feelings are bad, in fact they are a blessing.

God gave us emotions and we should celebrate that.

It’s okay to feel happy.

It’s okay to feel sad.

It’s okay to feel angry.

It’s okay to feel confused.

The problem is when we take something God gave us to experience life and turn it into the thing that directs our life.

Your feelings were never supposed to be your foundation.

Because feelings change.

You can wake up feeling amazing and by lunchtime feel like everything is terrible.

You can feel close to God at retreat and then two weeks later feel like God is a million miles away.

But did God move?

No.

Your feelings changed.

Proverbs 3:5–6 CSB

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight.

Look at what Scripture tells us, it doesn’t say to “Trust your heart.”

It says: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart.”

There’s a huge difference here.

God isn’t telling you to throw your heart away, he’s telling you where your heart belongs, how it belongs trusting Him.

Because there are going to be moments where what God says and what you feel are going to disagree.

You might feel like getting revenge.

God says forgive.

You might feel like giving into temptation.

God says flee from it.

You might feel like nobody cares about you.

God says you are loved.

You might feel like you have to fit in.

God says you were called to be different.

And in those moments you have to decide who gets the final word? My feelings? Or God?

Matthew 7:24–25 CSB

“Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock.

Jesus says that the person who hears His words and acts on them is like someone who built their house on the rock. Storms came. Rain came. Winds came. But the house didn’t fall.

Why is that?

Its not because the storm wasn’t strong, but because the foundation was stronger.

Guys, your emotions are going to go through storms

There will be days where you feel strong in your faith and days where you don’t.

There will be days where following Jesus feels easy and days where obedience is the last thing you feel like doing.

That’s why your Faith cannot be built on how you feel today.

Your feelings change, but God’s word doesn’t, so when my heart tells me one thing and God’s word tells me another… I have to choose the firm foundation. And once you understand that, there’s one more question i have for you:

If my heart isn’t leading me anymore… then who is?

That brings me to Point 3.

3. FOLLOW JESUS, NOT YOUR HEART

I think this is where the biggest difference between what culture tells us and what Jesus tells us becomes so obvious

culture tells us to “Follow your heart” but Jesus says “Follow me.”

Luke 9:23 CSB

Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.

we see here Jesus tells us that if anyone wants to follow Him, they have to deny themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow him

And I need you guys to catch this.

he doesnt say to “follow me as long as it feels right” or “follow me as long as I agree with what your heart wants”

he says if you want to follow me, sometimes you are going to have to deny yourself.

following Jesus can mean looking at something your heart desperately wants and telling it “no”.

Sometimes my heart wants revenge.

But Jesus says forgive.

Sometimes my heart wants to fit in with everybody around me.

But Jesus calls me to live differently.

Sometimes my heart wants a relationship that I know is pulling me further and further away from God.

Sometimes my heart wants to give into temptation because in that moment it feels good.

And following Jesus means I have to be willing to say:

“It might be what I want, but if it’s not what God wants, then I don’t want it leading my life.”

And this is where following Jesus becomes real for so many of us, we are no longer just saying that we are trusting and believing in him, instead this is where our belief is practiced, its where our faith is put into action.

Anybody can follow Jesus when Jesus is leading you somewhere you already wanted to go.

It’s easy to say “God, I trust you!” when God’s plan looks exactly like your plan.

It’s easy to say: “God, I’ll follow you!” when following him doesn’t cost you anything.

But what happens when your heart is saying one thing and Jesus is saying something completely different?

Who wins? Who gets the final word?

Because THAT is when you find out who you’re actually following.

John 10:27 CSB

My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me.

Jesus says that his sheep hear his voice, He knows them, and "they follow Him" I love that because he doesn’t describe his people as people who always know where they’re going, instead he describes them as people who know “who they’re following” and that is a huge difference.

Guys, you don’t have to have your entire life figured out.

You don’t need to know exactly what your future is going to look like.

You don’t need to know every step that God is going to ask you to take.

You just need to know the Shepherd.

when you know his voice, you can trust where He is leading you.

So maybe instead of constantly asking “what do I feel like doing?” maybe we need to start asking “Jesus, what are YOU asking me to do?”

Instead of “what does my heart want?”, ask “what does God’s Word say?”

Instead of “What feels right?”, ask “What honors you Jesus?”

here is a a truth you will always find in your life no matter where you are at:

feelings are going to change.

Your desires are going to change.

Your circumstances are going to change.

What you want today might not even be what you want five years from now.

But Jesus doesn’t change.

And that’s why I don’t want you guys building your entire lives around something as unstable as your feelings.

Your heart was never meant to be your compass.

Jesus was always meant to be your Shepherd.

So guys, don’t just follow your heart.

Give your heart to Jesus.

Let Him shape it.

Let Him correct it.

Let Him protect it.

And ultimately, let your heart learn to follow Him.

Closing

Guys, I really want you to think about this for a second.

Some of you already know what your heart has been trying to lead you into. Maybe it’s a relationship. Maybe it’s anger. Maybe it’s wanting people to like you so bad that you keep changing who you are. Maybe it’s something you keep going back to because in the moment it feels good, even though you know deep down it’s not bringing you closer to God.

And hear me, I’m not saying your feelings don’t matter. They do. God gave you feelings. But your feelings were never supposed to be the thing that gets the final say in your life.

Because there are going to be moments where your heart says one thing, and God says something completely different.

And in that moment, somebody has to win.

Either I trust what I feel, or I trust the God who sees way more than I do.

And guys, sometimes when God tells you no, sometimes when He tells you to wait, sometimes when He tells you to walk away from something you really want, it can feel like He’s trying to take something from you.

But He’s not.

God can see where that thing is taking you.

He can see what you can’t see yet.

And if He’s telling you to let something go, it’s not because He doesn’t care about what you want. It’s because He cares about you too much to let your heart lead you somewhere that’s going to destroy you.

So before we come to this altar tonight, I just want you to ask yourself something.

What have I been following instead of Jesus?

Like really think about it.

What is that thing where you already know what God says, but you keep saying, “Yeah, but this is what I want”?

Maybe tonight you need to give God a relationship.

Maybe it’s your anger.

Maybe it’s your need for approval.

Maybe you’ve just been doing whatever feels right and calling that freedom.

But guys, I don’t want this to just be another sermon where we talk about following Jesus and then go home and keep doing the exact same thing.

At some point, we actually have to follow Him.

At some point, I have to look at my heart and say:

“You don’t get to lead me anymore.”

Because your heart makes a terrible compass.

But Jesus makes a perfect Shepherd.

So tonight, maybe your prayer is just:

“Jesus, I give You my heart. I don’t want my feelings leading me anymore. I want You to lead me.”

I’ll leave you with this scripture:

Ezekiel 36:26 CSB

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.