Like many people, I sing songs before I think about the lyrics! Especially the famous old tunes that show up in every chick-flick and have been rotating on the radio since the 90’s! Feel free to sing along with me as you read these iconic lyrics: “listen to your heart when he's calling for you

Listen to your heart, there's nothing else you can do…” At first glance, we hear a sentimental, encouraging phrase and think “why yes, I will listen to my heart!” I love the melody and I can rock out to the instrumentals, but this song carries some bad advice.

I’ve heard similar guidance before. “Just be you,” “do what feels right,” and the infamous “trust your gut.” The idea of letting our feelings or emotions take the lead in our lives has become a romanticized ideal in our world, yet it leads to nothing more than a rollercoaster of selfish ambition.

“Thus says the Lord God, Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!” Ezekiel 13:3

“...They say, ‘Declares the Lord,’ when the Lord has not sent them, and yet they expect him to fulfill their word.” Ezekiel 13:6

When our “feelings” speak to us and we’re listening, we often drown out the voice of truth and reason; the very Spirit of God. We look to ourselves for guidance and in the process, often expect God to follow through even when He’s never been consulted. The false prophets of Ezekiel held weight with many, and scattered their own opinions while proclaiming the title “prophet.” I don’t know where their false teachings came from, but I do know they weren’t spoken by God.

In the same way, we forget to include God in our own decisions and instead prophecy whatever we “feel” over our own lives! We quite literally put words in God’s mouth! Then we get angry and bitter against Him when our own prophecies don’t come to fruition! Instead of listening to our hearts, we need to lay our wants, our needs, and even our feelings at the foot of the cross. We are humans and will experience an array of changing emotions over the course of our lives. Some will be positive and some will be negative but God will always be good. His voice is waiting to be heard, so incline your ear.