Follow your heart

In Jeremiah 17:9, the 'lev' is described as 'deceitful' (עָקֹב, aqov - cunning, crooked) and 'desperately sick' (אנוש, anush - incurable, desperately ill). This underscores that the natural heart is not a reliable source of truth or morality. Its fallen nature makes it prone to self-deception and rebellion against God.

In the New Testament, 'kardia' maintains a similar meaning to the Hebrew 'lev'. Jesus himself states that 'out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander' (Matthew 15:19). This reinforces the idea that the unregenerate heart is the source of sin, not wise guidance.

Patristic

The Church Fathers frequently addressed the condition of the human heart after the Fall, stressing its inclination toward error and its need for divine transformation. Augustine of Hippo, in his Confessions (especially Books I–III) and in his treatise On Free Will (De libero arbitrio), developed at length the idea that the human will, corrupted by original sin, cannot orient itself toward the good without God's prevenient grace; the heart that follows itself inevitably tends toward disorder and pride ('fecisti nos ad te et inquietum est cor nostrum donec requiescat in te', Conf. I,1). In his Homilies on the Gospel of John (In Iohannis Evangelium Tractatus) he repeatedly warns against trusting the disordered affections of the soul. John Chrysostom, in his Homilies on Matthew (In Matthaeum homiliae, especially hom. 15) and in his commentaries on the Pauline Epistles, insists that the heart not renewed by the Spirit is a source of vain thoughts and concupiscences that draw the person away from God, frequently citing Jer 17:9 ('The heart is deceitful above all things'). Both Fathers agree that the safe path is not 'following one's own heart' but submitting it to Scripture, prayer, and the sacraments, through which divine grace remolds it according to the image of Christ.

Reformed

Reformed theology, with its emphasis on total depravity, holds that the human heart in its natural state is corrupted by sin and incapable of discerning and following God's will on its own. Therefore, guidance must come from God's Word (Sola Scriptura) and the illumination of the Holy Spirit, who regenerates and transforms the heart to desire what is good and righteous.

Arminian

While Arminian theology emphasizes human capacity to respond to God's grace, it also recognizes the reality of sin and the need for prevenient grace to enable the heart to seek God. Guidance for Christian living is not found in unexamined internal impulses, but in obedience to Scripture and the direction of the Holy Spirit, working in a heart that has been enabled to respond to God.

Contemporary

Many contemporary theologians and pastors (such as Timothy Keller, Paul Tripp, John Piper) have criticized the phrase 'Follow your heart' as an expression of therapeutic culture and and individualism that is incompatible with biblical teaching. They argue that the true path to wisdom and a full life is submission to God's authority, obedience to His Word, and the pursuit of a heart transformed by the Holy Spirit, which aligns our desires with God's.