how fickle my heart

I'm doing assignments, so naturally my mind has been pondering all sorts of things apart from the required subject-matter.

And I was thinking about fickleness.

'adj. marked by lack of steadfastness, constancy, or stability : given to erratic changeableness.'

What do you think the root of fickleness in the heart is?

I would like your thoughts!

Joel: I know you didn't tag me, and we haven't seen each other in awhile, but I'm going to answer anyway, because I think about this sort of thing all the time, and the truth is, I've come to no concrete answer yet. I think humans are very prone ...to this sort of thing, which can be really annoying, but the best I can come up with is that its in our nature to be fluid, changing with new knowledge, pressures or even perceptions. Social pressures especially, people will buckle if they think that others will look down on them for something or another, even a religious standing, which I presume is your point - that people change, sometimes consciously, their feelings and beliefs on whims. I don't know how helpful this was, or if it even was at all!

Richard: Fickleness of heart is uncertainty about what the heart desires.
Fickleness of heart is a refusal to see and follow what we know to be best.
Fickleness of heart is idolatry.

I'm with you on the lack of focus.

Peta: I like to think fickleness is caused by peoples' desire to please everyone and cross-reference that with a personal agenda, causes us to reconsider everything, change certain aspects of ourselves, values etc.
Helpful?


Caitlin: i think sometimes i'm flighty because i don't trust that i'm not missing out on something else good.. so i lack consistency and commitment because i'm too ready to jump up and do something else/be somewhere else/be with someone else, rather... than making a call and sticking by it.

i keep searching for what i want, rather than trusting that God knows what i need.. and i think that causes fickleness- a lack of steady, grounded living as my eyes and heart and feet keep moving in restlessness..

i think part of it is being in our time and having so many good choices and experiences and people to keep up with and decide between and enjoy..we get distracted from looking to Christ and we can lack trust in God's promises, because we forget that we need them

i don't have a cure =) but i know that looking to God first and trusting that in Him i don't miss out on anything is key.. and i know that He values trustworthiness and self-control, so i strive to make those a reality in my walk, rather than being blown around by the emotional tides my heart floats in.

so i agree with richard - sin is the issue, and being rooted and established in Christ, walking His walk diligently and purposefully seems the way forward...

Dave: god is unchanging, we change.

we change either because

a) our character changes, so we make different decisions. we want different things now than we did in the past because we are different to what we were like in the past
...
or

b) we were wrong, and have learnt more now and have changed our decisions because we were wrong in the past.

or

c) all the many irrational factors that come into our decision making: fear, laziness, tiredness change our decisions so that they do not reflect our character

praise God he never changes who he is, he always knows all, and that is not scarred, lazy or weary!

Matt: fear, fear that settling or staying the same for too long means you will get too comfortable and become more vulnerable

Dan: Uncertainty and fear that you have made the wrong choice and that is consequences will be too far reaching for you too change it..

Tym: having a poor memory, and uncertainty*

Sam: The root of fickleness in the heart is its propencity for strong, powerful emotions. The more intense a feeling, the more likely it is to change with equal intensity; like a pendulum. Fickleness in the heart is tempered by balance of emotions, maintaining the middleground; a state of emotional calm, allowing one to choose who or what to allocate powerful feeling.

Claire: I agree with Caitlyn and Dave... i think it's often caused by fear that we're missing out, thinking something better will come along, discontentedness.