Heart vs. Mind

Lately I've been a little more... aware... of the male species. Yes, species. :P
Anyway, I've found myself flirting again, finding various guys attractive, and talking with my friends about crushes. This isn't all bad - it's awakening my femininity, which is wonderful. For a while I just felt like a floating blob. A floating blob with no makeup on, ugly toenails, off-white teeth, and too much extra baggage. But lately, I've been glowing a little more, if that makes any sense to anyone. The awakening of my femininity again has caused me to, obviously, feel more like a woman. Which is great since that's what I am and that's what I was made for.

But when things such as this get out of hand - too much flirting, too many emotions tied into crushes - what do we generally blame? Our hearts.

As I was listening to the Matthew West song "The Motions" the other day, a line jumped at me. I felt like God was speaking to me. "No regrets. Not this time. I'm gonna let my heart defeat my mind."
The first part made perfect sense to me. No regrets. Not this time. I've made plenty of mistakes in my past. Haven't we all? Many of my "problems" come from a dependency on what boys think, or their approval of me. Thanks, devil, for setting that trap. NOT. But this time, there will be no regrets. There will be no emotions taking over what I know God wants for my life.
But then the next part confused me for a minute. "I'm gonna let my heart defeat my mind." Wait... what? I'm GONNA let my heart defeat my mind? But the heart is supposed to be deceitful. Matthew must just be confused. But the longer I thought about it, the more evident God made it to me that I was the confused one. In the past my heart held my emotions and controlled most of my feelings. When I found myself getting too wrapped up in a person, I would blame it on my heart. After all, that's where my emotions resided.
Now that I think about it, after I became a Christian, Jesus became ruler of my heart. My emotions are no longer the dictators. Now my mind is what may get in the way. While Jesus is trying to show me what He wants for my life, my mind will show me how that is logically wrong or unattainable. So, as the lyric says "I'm gonna let my heart defeat my mind." This time, I will not let my logic get in the way of what God is saying to me. If God is saying I'm getting too caught up while my mind is saying "Oh, it's fine. You don't mean anything by it," then I will stop.

Once one becomes a Christian, I believe that the heart is no longer bad, since God resides there. Well, technically the Holy Spirit resides in your entire body.. but anyway. I've heard people complain about not knowing when it's their wants and emotions or when it's God speaking. The only way you'll ever be able to tell is by growing so close to Him that you can feel the difference in both callings. It's hard, but like most everything - it gets easier with time. And next time you're faced with temptation or struggles - let your Heart defeat your mind.