Follow Your Heart!

[ironmonk]

How many times have you heard the advice "follow your heart".

So many people today stress that we must be happy and follow our own hearts... Where does this advice come from?

Why must we be happy?

Can we really make ourselves happy? Simply put... No.


Next time someone says "follow your heart" - remember the following verses....


[b]Proverbs 12:15[/b]
The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,
But a wise man is he who listens to counsel.


[b]Proverbs 28:26[/b]
He who trusts in his own heart is a fool,
But he who walks wisely will be delivered.




The only way to be truly happy is with Christ in the next life. So we must seek the answer to "how to get there", and actually find the answer, not pull the answer out of the air. There is an absolute truth, and it can be known through the Catholic Church.


Help stop this false teaching about following your heart... that is why the world is drifting further from God. People are following their heart instead of listening to God.


God Bless,
ironmonk

[littleflower+JMJ]

the Blessed Mother promised St. Bernadette only happiness in heaven.... and not here.....

"I can't promise that you will be happy in this world....only in the next"


i agree monk!

[Quietfire]

like I said on the Chris Zewe thread in open mic...

Working for God on earth does not pay much,
but His Retirement plan is out of this world.


Peace.

[dairygirl4u2c]

[color=red]personal attack[/color]

It somewhat depends on how you want to look at the situation. Here's another way to look at it. Replace "follow your heart" with "follow your conscience". The latter is even strictly taught by the Catholic Church. Of course it also teaches that you must have a well formed conscious. But ultimately you must follow your conscience. So ultimately you must follow your heart.

Of course you shouldn't follow your heart when it goes against God. But I think this thread should make that disclaimer of all the things I just said. (maybe it seems like a baby thing to do.. maybe ironmonk thinks he needs to tough love some of us here in which case I can understand.. I'm just afraid I'm giving him too much credit)

It seems pretty clear to me that the situation will boil down to RCs thinking that your conscience can only lead you to the Catholic Church or to Catholic Church dogma; so if we aren't following we must be living proactive lies.

Edited July 26, 2004 by cmotherofpirl

[Aloysius]

an erring conscience is binding, but it is not necessarily an excuse for doing wrong.

Monk is saying don't try to follow that which makes you feel good, follow where your feelings lead. that's what the image of "your heart" means in today's society-- your feelings. To say follow your conscience is a completely different connotation more closely related to following your reason or your knowledge, you know: your brain.

[Iacobus]

I shall always follow my heart because in my heart is a strong love for God. If I only followed God via my kidney (brain, lol, inside joke) than I wouldn't be a Christian. I would be a lawyer.

[ironmonk]

[quote name='dairygirl4u2c' date='Jul 25 2004, 11:23 PM'] [color=red]personal attack[/color]

It somewhat depends on how you want to look at the situation. Here's another way to look at it. Replace "follow your heart" with "follow your conscience". The latter is even strictly taught by the Catholic Church. Of course it also teaches that you must have a well formed conscious. But ultimately you must follow your conscience. So ultimately you must follow your heart.

Of course you shouldn't follow your heart when it goes against God. But I think this thread should make that disclaimer of all the things I just said. (maybe it seems like a baby thing to do.. maybe ironmonk thinks he needs to tough love some of us here in which case I can understand.. I'm just afraid I'm giving him too much credit)

It seems pretty clear to me that the situation will boil down to RCs thinking that your conscience can only lead you to the Catholic Church or to Catholic Church dogma; so if we aren't following we must be living proactive lies. [/quote]
Aloysius hit the nail on the head.

It was not sarcastic.

I am compassionate, but not foolish compassionate. I don't believe "tough love" is possible on a message board. Things are black and white, and have abosolute answers. We don't have to guess on things, maybe because you come to your own conclusions on certain topics and I address that, makes you feel that I am not compassionate.

What is right... is God's way. Not mine, not his or hers, not yours. That is the point that I have been trying to make with you. We as Christians need to change our outlook to what God wants. There is an absolute answer which can be known through the Church that God gave us, just as Jesus promise and the New Testament speaks of (1 Tim 3:15).

Sometimes people will ask questions about right, wrong, or God and draw their own conclusions instead of hunting for a real answer.

That is why I posted this:
[quote]Proverbs 12:15
The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But a wise man is he who listens to counsel.[/quote]


There are real answers to every question we ask. Every one. Maybe they are not answers that we want to hear, but there are real answers, because there is absolute truth.

A lot of the questions I ask are rhetorical to get people to think. To plant seeds.

God is real. God has made the universe with laws. Logical laws, with real answers. God loves us, He did not leave us alone without a place to find those answers.

We don't have to guess the answers or come up with them on our own. We have assurance from Christ Himself telling us this (St. John 14:16, 26; St. Matt 28:20; St. Luke 10:16). All through His Church.


I gain nothing in this life for spending my time trying to explain the Truth, I have nothing to gain here for anyone coming to the Catholic Church. I love Christ. I do it all for Christ. If I am wrong, someone needs to show me, so that I can be right. It doesn't matter if I am wrong because then I win when learning the Truth. If I am right, and the other persons sees their error, they then win for learning the Truth.... I gain nothing.

Men do gain for keeping people out of the Church. Anti-Catholicism is big business... look at how well they live.

I've been defending the Church for around 4 years... with general anti-Catholics, protestant pastors, men with Master's of Divinity, people even that go to Ian Paisley's church.... yet, none have been able to prove the Catholic Church wrong with the Catholic Church documents that are online. No one can show any error in the Catechism. No one can show any error in an Ex Cathedra statement.

I've done the homework (reading the bible for the last 25 years, I estimate 10-40 hrs a week of study in regards to the first Christian writings for the last four years)... My allegance is to Christ, not a group of men, so if the Catholic Church was not the Church that Christ established, I would not be Catholic. I am an expert in Scripture and first Christian writings... there are many who know more than I do, I've only been doing it four years, with about 600 years worth of writings, there is a lot to learn.


Anyone who does the homework will become Catholic if they are honest with themselves and can comprehend what they are reading. All roads lead to Rome.

To become deep in history is to cease to be Protestant.
- Cardinal Newman



When I ask you to study, it's so you can learn, so that you can see for yourself, so that you can find the answers to the questions you ask. When asking people on a board, sometimes someone with erroneous information might seem right to us, that is why we must go to the documents themselves and take into account everything that was written. If someone cannot give references to where and when something was written or stated, take it with a grain of salt. If they can't give it in regards to attacking a group (like the Church), toss it out. Anyone who really cares about truth will be able to provide a reference 99% of the time. Like [url="http://www.Catholic.com"]http://www.Catholic.com[/url] does... they give you all you need to find the quotes they use. You can look them up for free here: [url="http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/"]http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/[/url] or buy them for $250 at www.Logos.com.


For your own sake, so you can be sure of the answers, read the bible, study the first writings. The first Christian writings will show you which Church is the real Church.


I was not always a die hard Catholic... I stopped going to Church at 8 due to my parents.... I kept reading the bible.... At 15, I asked which Church did Jesus build, then I studied history from unbias sources to find out. I thought I had enough because I knew the bible well and was baptized Catholic... I was wrong, and it took a baptist to attack the Church and me having to find answers.

Double check everything.


God Bless,
ironmonk

[ironmonk]

[quote name='Iacobus' date='Jul 26 2004, 12:19 AM'] I shall always follow my heart because in my heart is a strong love for God. If I only followed God via my kidney (brain, lol, inside joke) than I wouldn't be a Christian. I would be a lawyer. [/quote]
Our heart follows our desires, our desires can change because tempation happens. We are only human, and it is unsafe and foolish (according to Scripture) to follow our heart.

Our brain will follow the Church, the Church does not Change.

I'll follow what the Church teaches with Scripture... To follow my brain, and not my heart.

I do not do what I want to do, but I do what I know I must do.

God Bless,
ironmonk

[Sinner]

Sacrificial love is the only thing that has ever made me satisfied.... it often consists of that which I do not wish to do, nor necessarily makes me "happy" at the time. Later, I do feel a satisfaction for doing that which pleases my Father.

[Iacobus]

But my point is most of my actions are from a deep love of God. If I was soly rationaly and logical I could not and would not love God. I try and follow the teachings but I have to do so with my heart, with a passion, a passion from love.

[oldkasperl]

But passion is fleeting, what do you have when it's gone?

Maybe I err on the side of rationalism, or maybe I just have trouble examining and listening to my heart and emotions, but my head leads me to God. The hardest stuff comes afterward.

Following our hearts can lead to a big mess-- so can following our heads. It's best to use both, but never fall for the popular idea that as long as we believe something honestly, or want something very much, it is not a sin. We have no "right to happiness." CS Lewis wrote a great essay on this... I should go dig that up and read it again...

[ironmonk]

[quote name='Iacobus' date='Jul 26 2004, 01:46 AM'] But my point is most of my actions are from a deep love of God. If I was soly rationaly and logical I could not and would not love God. I try and follow the teachings but I have to do so with my heart, with a passion, a passion from love. [/quote]
You can love God with all your heart, but sometimes our heart can lead us astray. That is why there are so many divorces, impurity, etc....


All logic leads to God. Logic shows us that we should love God and gives us the reasons to love God.

Please read this: [url="http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/apologetics/ap0002.html"]http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/...ics/ap0002.html[/url]

There is so much proof that there is God, and the Catholic Church is His Church, that the only logical conclusion is that we are to love God. Logic does not take us from God.


Don't get me wrong, I understand your point, but God is fact, and fact can be followed with logic and reason. I'm not saying that we don't love God with our hearts, but we are human our hearts can lead us astray as the Scriptures clearly tell us.

When our heart wants what is wrong, it is our logic and mind that will keep us doing right, out of love for God, or sometimes fear of God.... which fear will develop into Love... as we are children, and sometimes children do not understand why they should not do something, but the fear the spanking, so they do not do it. The 12 Steps of Humility by St. Benedict are very well at explaining this.

God Bless,
ironmonk

[God Conquers]

Dairygirl:

You could replace conscience with heart.

However : Conscience does not equal heart.

Our consciences frequently act against the inclinations of our hearts.

[Guest JeffCR07]

Ironmonk: awesome quote from Newman!

"Follow your heart" should change to "Follow the Church"

The Church is Christ's heart, and He is it's head. Only there can the intellect and emotions come together to form the One, True Faith.

[dUSt]

When I think of "follow your heart", I think of a person doing what [b]they[/b] believe to be true--as if they had enough confidence in [b]themselves[/b] to do what is right.

The past few years I've been slowly developing a strong [b]opposition[/b] to myself. Sounds weird, but I [b]don't[/b] want to follow "my heart" or my "reason". I want God to control me, through His Church. I was reading a book today, and highlighted a quote that sums up a lot of what I've been thinking for some time now...

[i]"It would be much truer to say that a man will certainly fail, because he believes in himself. Complete self-confidence is not merely a sin; complete self-confidence is a weakness." - GK Chesterton, Orthodoxy[/i]