Be true to what?

"Be true to your heart...believe in yourself...you can do anything if you set your mind to it." I find it very difficult to take those words of advice. Please don't misunderstand my intentions, I do not mean to downplay the importance of not giving up. Nor do I imply that one should simply reject themselves. I do however imply that seeking to believe in one's own self is a lost cause. We say 'be true to your heart', but what if what you want in your heart is...revenge, lust, or greed. What if deep down in one's heart, the desire is in itself deceitful and corrupt. A movie I once saw had a character telling a woman that the only true sin is to deny what one's heart desires. I presume then that the character believed the film's antagonist was merely following his heart when the villian decided to try and kill hundred's of people. That's the paradox of 'following one's heart'. If we are all truly meant to just follow our hearts, then there is no right and there is no wrong. We are all merely following our hearts when we steal, when we kill and when we destroy. When i a person is freely encouraged to follow the bent of their own heart, then words that were once evil are now merely options. Should I kill or should I save? Do I want paper or plastic? What does it matter, simply follow your heart. By now, or maybe long before now the reader has realized the sarcasm with which I am speaking. However, I do not think it can be easily argued against. In reality we are trying to tell people to be true to their hearts, in so much as it complies with some...good. But what is 'good'? What is 'good' to me, a happily married, white male who grew up in a simple town could be exceedingly different from the 'good' embraced by a kid raised by a single parent in the Bronx. So is it our perceptions of what exemplifies 'good' meant to be the navigator for our hearts? I believe that this just cannot be so. Even I, the kid raised in a simple town, with a pleasant life would rather die than live by my own heart's standards alone. For I believe, if left to my own heart's leanings, I could lead a life filled with more ill nature than a hundred ruffions of the street. The human heart is deceitful even unto itself. It must be shaped, it must be...refined. And so the words of a song echo in my ear:

"Yes, and I must, I will esteem
All things but loss for Jesus' sake
O may my soul be found in Him
And of His righteousness partake
Amen, amen

The best obedience of my hands
Dares not appear before Thy throne
But faith can answer Thy demands
By pleading what my Lord has done"

I put no faith in my own heart, but only in the love of Jesus which has come into my heart. For I long to be changed from the inside out, having my heart refined by the heart of God. He is the only 'good', and he is the only means by which to embrace that which is 'good'. 'Trust in the Lord with all of your heart...', says the Word. My heart must be completely dependent, not independent, on the truth of the Lord. Even still it is emphasized, '...and lean not on your own understanding.' Our understanding cannot be shaped by our own understanding of what is good. Our understaning must be shaped by that which is good. 'For the Lord is good...and His love endures forever.' We must be true to the ways of the Lord.