AndrewGilmore.net

Don't Follow Your Heart

Your heart is a liar.

YOU'VE PROBABLY HEARD the terrible advice in movies, on Instagram, or even in person from a friend or family member: Follow Your Heart.

For example: "Follow your heart: it knows the way."

Or this frightening quotation: "When you are in alignment with the desires of your heart, things have a way of working out."

The aphorism is so prevalent, you might conclude the advice originates somewhere in Scripture. In fact, the Bible tells us the opposite. Jeremiah 17:9 is a good example: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" Not exactly something you would want to follow, is it?

Solomon wrote about the heart in similar fashion. He wrote, "Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart" (Prov. 21:2). This passage is not as explicit as the one above, but is just as telling. Taking a deeper look will help us understand why it's unwise to follow your heart and what to do instead.

Why We Fear The One Who Made Us

A preview of April's email-only article.

Caleb Woods

DOES IT EVER seem like God is hiding from us?

If he's really out there, why won't he show us his glory?

It turns out there's a good explanation for this phenomenon, something we're examining in this month's email-exclusive article.

Every month I publish an exclusive article for my email subscribers, and if you'd like instant, free access, fill out the form below. (If you are already a subscriber, check your inbox!)

Here's a snippet of this month's exclusive:

GOD CANNOT BE contained in any analogy we could conjure, but have you ever considered the paradoxical nature of our sun? Without the sun we could not survive. But were we to venture too near the sun we would perish as well. Even gazing at the yellow dwarf proves injurious.

God is a little like the sun. We cannot stand in God's presence without ceasing to exist. And yet, since God is our creator and sustainer, we would not exist at all without him.

When Moses asked to see God's glory, God replied he would show Moses his "goodness," but he said, "you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live" (Exo. 33:19, 20). Even Moses, who met regularly with God, could not survive an unveiled glimpse of the Almighty.

Job was well aware of the awesome, terrifying, and potentially fatal repercussions of an interaction with God. And yet, what he wanted most above all else was an audience with the Creator so he could plead his case. So after preparing his arguments, Job requested two things of God: "Withdraw your hand far from me, and let not dread of you terrify me" (13:21).

This passage is intriguing. Here's why.

Want to read the rest?

Just enter your email address to join the list, and I'll send it to you right away:

I send two to three emails per month, but you can unsubscribe at any time.

See you next month!

What I Read in 2024: 3 Books You Might Enjoy

Three of my favorite books from 2024, plus I'm giving one of them away!

Update, 4/17/25: Congrats to Sven from Germany on winning this year's giveaway!

Clarissa Watson

AS HAS BECOME an annual tradition here at AndrewGilmore.net, I'm recapping the books I read this past year I think you will find intriguing. Many times I approach this assignment with skepticism, wondering if the exercise is mere self-indulgence, but I keep typing for two reasons.

First, I love knowing what other people are reading. I can't leave a conversation with my bibliophile colleagues or friends without inquiring about his or her latest read. Even on the beach or at a coffee shop, I try to spy book titles peaking through the finger lattice of public readers. So, my thinking goes, if I possess insatiable book curiosity, you might as well.

Second, I enjoy the giveaway tied to this tradition. Yes, the activity is somewhat self-serving in that you must surrender your email address to enter the drawing. But, as always, you can remove yourself from the list at any time with one click, no questions asked. Marketing strategy aside, I take pleasure in the act of generosity, and by sharing books I enjoyed I hope to form a bond—however tenuous—with the recipient.

This year, I am switching things up a bit. You must opt-in to be entered in the drawing. In years past I would draw a name from my existing list only to receive silence in response to the email notification. Whether the winner had no knowledge of the contest, ceased checking his email, or lay comatose in a county hospital I knew not. Therefore, even those currently on my email list must sign up for the contest. To do so, enter your email below and click "Enter the Contest."

If you're new around here, the winner, drawn at random, will receive one of the following books for free, plus a copy of my latest book, You're Utmost Is Not Enough: Trusting God When Life Doesn't Make Sense, in your preferred format.¹

On to what I read.

Three Books You Might Enjoy

I had a consistent reading year by my standards, completing eight books while starting a few others that I did not enjoy and abandoned. As usual, nonfiction dominated the landscape; just two of the octet were fiction. Nevertheless, I dedicated a good portion of my autumnal reading to a thick anthology of short stories—one I look forward to finishing.

With the constant bustle of life, it seems I must always fight my exhausted brain for reading time. Yet I never regret the minutes I spend reading, and I need only pore over my TBR list to generate some internal giddiness at all of the wisdom, knowledge, enrichment, and entertainment awaiting me on my bedroom bookshelf or overstuffed Kindle library.

Here are three books I read in 2024 I think you might enjoy.

"I would be silent and die": How Integrity Shapes Life's Toughest Trials

A preview of February's email-only article.

Engin Akyurt

LIFE HAS A way of beating us down at times, doesn't it?

When events don't transpire as they should and when life seems unfair, the temptation to give up our integrity can be tantalizing. Life hasn't been good to me, so why should I continue to do what is good and right?

Such a response, while common, is short-sighted.

In this month's email-exclusive article, we're continuing our examination of Job. We ponder how in the world he was able to hold fast to his integrity when he had seemingly no reason to do so.