I love Oprah Winfrey. There is no way to quantify how her hard work and persistence has changed the face of our culture, for women, women of color and all of us. She is smart, accomplished and a savvy businesswoman. All of her financial comfort is well earned and her accolades are deserved.

However, because she has accomplished so many “firsts” people tend to automatically take her every comment as gospel and ascribe to her a level of “wisdom” that is more attached to her celebrity status than her knowledge. Redstate reporter Brandon Morse picked up on a recent video of Oprah giving life advice to a little girl and it is the perfect example.

“Every one of us has an internal guidance, a GPS, an intuition, a heart print, a heart song that speaks to us,” she said. “Your only job is to be able to listen and discern when it’s speaking versus your head and your personality speaking, and if you follow that you will be led to the highest good for you, always.”

“That’s why all the voices of the world mean nothing if your voice is in alignment with all the voices of the world. That’s true. No matter what you look like,” she concluded

Huh? No, listen…that’s gobbly-gook. Here is some real advice.

1.Do not follow your heart. Your heart is wicked.

Hollywood loves to tell us to “follow your heart” as if it will always lead you to some personal victory. But the “heart of man is deceitful above all (Jeremiah 17:9)”. If you don’t believe me, look at how many bad decisions a person makes in the heat of passion. Your heart will tell you all kinds of things, regardless of consequences. The heart is selfish…and it changes. The heart you have today will not be the one you have at 30…0r 40…0r 80. It isn’t dependable. Follow something more permanent than your heart. Something eternal. Something…or someone who is the same today, yesterday and forever. That is a path that will never fail you.

2.You are a divine creation, so act accordingly.

You have been made with purpose and love, knit by the Father in your mother’s womb. You have never been an accident. You are a unique gift that comes in a package no person on this earth can recreate. Many people will tell you that you’ll be empowered by treating your body like it isn’t connected to your soul; that giving it freely to whomever whenever will afford you some kind of “equality”. If you treat yourself as the gift you are, so will others…and they will work to earn that gift.

3.You are not the most important person in the world.

You are special. No doubt about it. But life isn’t all about you.

4.You are no one’s victim.

Life will throw some pretty nasty things your way. No matter what happens you don’t need to be a slave to the awful things that may cross your path. There will be no shortage of people who will try to convince you that your victimhood is the most important thing about you. It is not. You never have to take on the mantle of victimhood to prove you are special. You’re special because you were created. You’ll never need to prove worth for that very fact. Let the trials in your life lift you up to new heights…don’t ever let them tear you down.

5.There is power in your femininity.

Somewhere along the way while women were fighting for equality with men, we got the big idea that we were fighting to be the same as men. It’s a man’s world, but you’ve been given some very unique qualities to help you navigate that world. Don’t ignore your intuition. It’s a gift. Don’t be afraid to be feminine, and to use that quality to out-earn and outsmart your male peers. Don’t be afraid to be…a woman. We are most powerful when we allow ourselves the privilege of simply being…women.

6.Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. 

There will be times when you’ll ask yourself, “Does he love me? Do I love him? Does this person really love that person?”. Or maybe you’ll ask your mother or father one day, “How will I know if it’s really love?”. Well, your guide can be found in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. Read this list of the qualities of love and ask yourself if you see them in that other person. That is how you know it is love. Always.