“Why did you do that?” “I felt like it.” How often have we heard this as an excuse when someone does something we know is wrong? Parents often assign their children a project or a chore and the next day hear, “I didn’t feel like it”, as their justification for doing nothing. We all have done something in life based on just our feelings or didn’t do something simply because we didn’t feel like it and discovered later what a bad decision we made. I know lots of people today burdened with monthly payments for cars, boats, campers, etc. as a result of purchasing an expensive item on impulse because they felt like it instead of praying and thinking through the ramifications—can I afford this, do I really need this, why am I doing this?
Various dictionaries give no less than 20 different definitions for feelings. Psychologists have established a technical difference between emotions and feelings. However, in most cases the words are interchangeable. For the simplicity of this Sustaining Word, I will view them as synonymous. Scriptures show that the attributes of God include emotions or feelings. He experiences grief, anger, pleasure, joy, pity, jealousy, and compassion. He created us in His image with emotions as an integral part of our being. In themselves, feelings are neither good nor bad. However, the Lord never intended for them to guide us. A delicate balance exists between what we may feel like doing and the actions we take. I’m sure that I would be in prison or dead, if I had done some of the things I felt like doing. The key is managing our feelings rather than them managing us. Feelings should be the result and not the reason, the cart and not the horse or the passenger and not the driver. Anyone living their life according to feelings typically stays in wearisome situations.
We must guard against accepting or rejecting beliefs on the basis of feelings. We may feel as if God does not love us, or He has abandoned us. I heard one minister say, “I don’t feel like a Christian until after I drink my first cup of coffee.” We may feel guilty and think the Lord has not forgiven us. But, all these feelings are contrary to Scripture. We must ground our life on the truth and not on feelings that can quickly lead us astray.
Emotions are not only part of life as a whole; we cannot leave them at home on Sunday morning. Churches vary in what they deem appropriate manifestations of emotions. Some churches expect the congregation to sit in quiet reverence with no outward expression of their internal feelings. On the other end of this spectrum, people can express themselves with loud shouts of joy like amen and praise the Lord throughout the service. They may dance, raise their hands, and clap. Yet, those of us from the more emotional churches must guard against allowing feelings to become synonymous with worship. This can lead Christians to mistake emotions for spirituality and the belief that the more emotion one expresses, the closer to God they get. Ministers should never design services to stimulate people’s feelings. Whether internal or external, emotions should flow out of worship instead of leading to worship. Feelings are too easy to manipulate.
Ponder these questions. Do I treat people according to how I feel, or do I manifest God’s agape love despite my feelings? Do I base my everyday life on how I feel, or on the Bible’s teachings, commands, and principles? Do I base my self-image on how I feel about myself, or on the person, God says I am? Do I make decisions based on how I feel or do I act on what I know is right. We must move beyond our feelings and do what God commands even if it conflicts with our feelings.
Jeremiah warned that the seat of our emotions, the heart, is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it (Jer 17:9)? Jesus said, For from the heart [the seat of our emotions] come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, blasphemies (Mat 15:19). In contrast to feelings, Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path (Psa 119:105). Feelings led King David to lust, commit adultery with Bathsheba, and have her husband killed. Later in life he wrote, How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word (Psa 119:9). Jesus did not feel like going to the cross. He fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me, but He acted upon what He knew the Father desired, “yet not as I will, but as You will” (Mat 26:39).
No one can separate themselves from emotions. Negative feelings can linger for a time. When I get upset, I do not instantly bounce back and feel happy or if I become depressed, it takes a bit of time to feel better. What I have learned is how to cope with my adverse feelings and allow the truth of God’s word to dictate my actions.
Sustaining Word for the Week: Do feelings run your life or does truth? You cannot eliminate your feelings, but you can learn to manage them and enjoy the good feelings that result from living by God’s truth.