My home culture highly values the rights of an individual. Live your best life and follow your heart are two popular mottos. I heard a conversation attempting to combat this individualist worldview by arguing that our hearts are deceptive and so we shouldn’t trust or follow them, but I don’t entirely agree. Yes, though it is true that our hearts are deceptive, it is also true that God gives to us a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26), and as David understood, creates in us a clean heart (Psalm 51:10) from which flow the springs of life (Proverbs 4:23). I had Psalm 37:4 inscribed on the inside of Stephen’s wedding band, not because I think that God will give us everything that we want, but as a reminder to delight in Him. When we hunger for righteousness (Matthew 5:6), when our minds are set on things above (Colossians 3:2), and when our hearts trust in the Lord (Proverbs 3:5) they align with His thoughts and His ways. It’s not our own desires born of our flesh that the Lord grants, but our plans are fulfilled (Psalm 20:4) when, like David, we are after God’s heart, and we have the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5). When we delight ourselves in the Lord, our passions become those of the Spirit and not of our flesh and that is when God grants the desires of our heart, because they are His desires. God says to “keep your heart with all vigilance.” We do this by setting our minds on things above, drawing near to God and seeking him with our whole hearts, resisting the devil, confessing, repenting, and storing up the Word. Do these, and God promises that “blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). So yes, go ahead and follow your heart… when it’s delighted in the Lord. Follow your heart when you flee from sin and youthful passions, and are in love with what God loves and hating what he detests. Follow your heart when the Lord is the light of your path and a lamp to your feet. Guard your ways according to the Lord and by all means, live your best life!