Following your heart not right according to JWs?

cognac

I heard in a talk recently that following your heart was one of the worse advice a person can get. Is this because the bible says the heart is treacherous?

Anybody else hear that in JW land?

I have noticed A LOT in raising my baby that I've gotten a lot of unwanted advice to let my "baby cry it out" when she's upset, "don't hold her to much", let her "go to sleep on her own", and on spanking (when she gets older.)

I decided to follow my heart in raising my child and have gotten a lot of critism and been really looked down upon for it by JWs.

I happen to follow the attached parenting method where I don't let my baby cry or fuss, I hold her a good amount, and pick her up if she wants to be held when it's time for bed.

My baby rarely cries or fusses and goes to everybody. She can fall asleep on her own laughing and playing with the video monitor and does extremely well at night. She happily plays in her crib and makes a specific noise which means its time for me to get her. She also plays on her own very well.

I'm told the she's "just a really good baby" and "a miracle baby" basically despite my parenting skills and everything I say regarding child rearing is thereby dismissed. She is a very well natured baby but I don't believe that it is despite me.

Anyways, off my rant. What do you think about this?

TheClarinetist

I've never heard that about raising children around the JWs... but maybe I was not ready to pay attention to that advice when I left? I find it disturbing that they would suggest some of that stuff!!!

I seem to remember reading that advice on "following your heart" in the Young People Ask book on the topics of dating and marriage.

Witness 007

It's your baby so "follow your heart".....yes the Watchtower says "hearts" are EVIL......in the 60's the magazine said the heart LITERALLY had emotions built into it which most doctors found hysterical!

OUTLAW

The WBT has been Wrong for over 100 years...

100% Wrong!

When the WBT$ GB wakes up in the morning..

They wake up Wrong..

When The WBT$ GB go`s to sleep at night..

They`re still Wrong..

Anything to to with the WBT$..

Is Wrong..

If you want to be Wrong..

Listen to the WBT$..

........................

TheClarinetist

"You may have heard the oft repeated advice, “Follow your heart.” But Proverbs 28:26 states: “He that is trusting in his own heart is stupid.” Why? Because “the heart is more treacherous than anything else and is desperate.” (Jeremiah 17:9; Numbers 15:39) To be treacherous is to be disloyal or false or to be a double-crosser. Would you trust a person who is known as a deceiver and a traitor? Our figurative heart can be devious. Thus, a relationship is not necessarily healthy just because it feels right." - Young People Ask "Why Am I Drawn to the Wrong People"

There are many more references to the heart being treachorous, but thats an example of their stance on "follow your heart". I think I've mainly seen it (as I said before) in YPA articles and articles specifically for the younger people.

cognac

lol, outlaw...

Thanks for the reference theclar. Now, I have a better understanding of why they are so against my parenting style. Because I'm not "disciplining properly" evidently...

AGuest

May you have peace!

It is true that the heart is treacherous... but that doesn't mean we can't follow it. We must properly TRAIN it... or have it properly trained... so that we CAN follow it. You have chosen a very loving method for raising your baby. Your heart said it was a "good" method. That is probably because there is LOVE in your heart... and that LOVE has "trained" you on how to raise your baby. Not everyone's heart has such a "teacher," unfortunately, which is evident by the enormous amount of baby/child neglect and abuse in the world.

If, on the other hand, your heart had told you to be harsh with your child (and many "hearts" do tell their owners this)... I would say that, in that case, your heart was indeed "treacherous"... and you would be WISE not to listen to it.

You have to look beyond what the WTBTS "says," especially when they say "the BIBLE says." THEY don't have a clue as to what such things truly mean... and so can't in any manner tell anyone else. The blind... leading the blind.

Again, I bid you peace.

A slave of Christ,

SA

choosing life

Cognac, do follow your heart when it comes to raising and loving your children. You will not regret it later.

kurtbethel

What will it be that you follow? Your heart? Or cold heartless men in Brooklyn?

WTWizard

You can either follow your heart, or you can get answers from the Young People Ask--Answers That Do Not Work book. Any advice you get from the Filthful and Disgraceful Slavebugger is almost certain to be wrong.

In general, not creating problems where none exist is the best advice on children. That will keep "misbehavior" to a minimum (most "misbehavior" is actually attempted learning), and hence keep the need for spankings and other forms of discipline to a bare minimum (no, I am not going to absolutely ban spankings, but they should be kept to a bare minimum if absolutely needed, and other forms of discipline--namely, giving your children plenty of opportunities to learn--are more to be relied upon).

Following your heart not right according to JWs?

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