You should add, though, Ron, that – as George W. Bush said that he made many decisions as president by ‘listening to his gut’”, and ended up making some serious mistakes – the “listen to your gut” of the New Testament relies upon the foundational awareness that, 1) we were created in the image of God and have that image at the core of our personhood; 2) we have all tended to go our own way and to think that our way of thinking and doing things should be the touchstone for everyone, so that what we want, we get; 3) on account of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and intercession for us, we are forgiven our self-centeredness and called to newness of life that would allow the Holy Spirit to restore the image in which we were created, a consequence of which would be our actually living out God’s specific purpose for our unique self in this world; and 4) were we to allow the Spirit to guide us, we would feel the Spirit’s power reminding us “that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him” (Romans 8.16b-17). In such a case, “listening to our gut” would more and more be equated with “listening to the voice of God within,” as the Holy Spirit transforms our hearts and minds ever more fully in the image of Christ. Otherwise, in our natural selves, to “listen to your gut” without this transformation by the Holy Spirit would fulfill the proverb, “Do you see persons wise in their own eyes? There is more hope for fools than for them” (Proverbs 26.12 NRSV).