How can I tell if the desires of my heart are from God?

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

Apart from God’s transformative work in our lives, our hearts cannot be trusted (Jeremiah 17:9; Matthew 15:19; Romans 3:23; Romans 7:18–20). However, God has the ability to change people’s hearts (Ezekiel 11:19–20). When we choose to delight ourselves in God, He can influence the desires that come from our hearts (Psalm 37:4–6). In order to experience God’s transformative work in our hearts, we must become His children through belief in His Son, Jesus Christ (John 3:16–21). After we are made into new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), we can reject the sinful things of this world and welcome understanding God’s will for our life (Romans 12:2). One of the most important ways we can understand His will is through living out the truths of His Holy Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:14–17).

FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

• Psalm 37:4–6 says, "Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday." When we choose to find our delight in the Lord, He will give us the desires that are pleasing to Him.
• We cannot trust our hearts' desires apart from God. Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?"
• God has always had and still does have the ability to change people's hearts. Concerning Israel, God told Ezekiel, "And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God" (Ezekiel 11:19–20).

FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT

• Naturally speaking, the heart is a terrible indicator of what is from God. Jesus said, "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander" (Matthew 15:19). Contrary to what pop culture or other worldly influences tell us, we cannot “follow” or “trust” our hearts.
• The only way for our hearts' desires to be transformed into what is pleasing to God, is to believe in Jesus Christ and receive His salvation (John 3:16–21).
• Our hearts are the embodiment of what New Testament Scripture labels "the flesh," in opposition to the Spirit. We are born with this "heart," and we all sin (Romans 3:23).
• Paul writes of our "sinful nature" that strongly influences our choices: "For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me" (Romans 7:18–20). Without God being intimately connected to our hearts' desires, our hearts will hold desires that are in alignment with our sinful flesh.
• Romans 12:2 talks about being transformed in order to understand God's desires for us: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” If we want our desires to be God’s desires, we must throw away the things of this world and welcome God’s transformative work in our lives as we learn to value and trust His direction in every step we take.
• A key part of understanding God’s desires is understanding and applying His Holy Scriptures to our lives. We can follow Paul's instructions to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:14–17 in our own life: "But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work."

IMPLICATIONS FOR TODAY

God's desires can become our desires, our minds can be transformed, and we can have the ability to discern God's will only if we receive God's gift of salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ. Through faith in Jesus as our Savior, God made a way for our rescue from the punishment due to us because of our sin: "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God" (Romans 5:1–2). Once we become children of God, we are made into new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). After this transformative work has taken place, God provides grace and strength for us to fight against our desires to sin. Our part is to choose to focus on glorifying God in everything we do. God can change our hearts and help us pursue what is pleasing to Him.

UNDERSTAND

• Our natural heart is unreliable and sinful without God's transformation.
• God changes our hearts when we believe in Jesus, making us new creations who are able to desire what pleases Him.
• We discern God-given desires by delighting in Him, renewing our minds through Scripture, and walking in obedience.

REFLECT

• What influences are shaping the desires of your heart, and how are you discerning whether they come from God?
• How are you allowing God's Word and the Holy Spirit to transform the way you think about your goals and longings?
• How are your current desires drawing you closer to God's will or pulling you toward self-centered pursuits?

ENGAGE

• What are some ways we can recognize when a desire reflects God’s heart versus sinful desires?
• How can we help others pursue desires that are aligned with Scripture and God’s purposes?
• What role does spiritual maturity play in developing desires that honor God, and how have you seen that process unfold?