Feelings are not Everything

 

Feelings are real. But they are not everything. They can be good and they can be bad. They can be right or they can be wrong. They can help or they can hinder. They can direct or they can lead astray.
That’s the point. Feelings are unpredictable and unsteady. But all too often, we allow our feelings to dictate our mood, choices, and actions. We let feelings lead our life.

 

FEELINGS ARE A GIFT.

I believe that the ability to feel is a gift from God. With feelings, we can experience love and we can experience happiness. We can experience wonder and we can experience the presence of God.

Feelings are a gift from God, but so is free will. We have the free will to choose what we want to do with our feelings. So we have to be careful. We are inclined towards feelings, but we are also inclined towards sin. It’s human nature. The enemy knows that, and he often uses it to control and manipulate us.

 

FEELINGS ARE POWERFUL.

I’m not undermining feelings or the power of feelings. I recognize that they are a real thing and that not all feelings are bad. All I’m saying is that feelings are not everything because feelings are not always right.

If we went to work only when we felt like going into work, we would probably never go to work.
If we forgave only when we felt like forgiving, we would never forgive.
If we resisted temptation only when we felt strong enough to resist, we would never resist.
Everything we do is a choice.

Sometimes our choices are overtaken by the power of feelings. Feelings are so powerful because they tend to throw rationality and convictions out the window. One small feeling can manifest into a whirl pool of other things and it drags everything down with it. Once everything is in the mix, feelings are powerful enough to manifest sin. People do certain things to gain certain feelings – or they avoid certain things to avoid certain feelings. Sin.
Feelings are powerful. We have to recognize that.
Feelings can control us. We have to be careful of that.
Feelings can lead to sin. We have to stop that.

 

FEELINGS ARE NOT ALWAYS BAD.

I get it. Some people have a lot of feelings and some people don’t. I personally tend to be a person who has more feelings. So I get it. Don’t take me wrong, I get it. I understand that some people “feel” more than others, and that is not necessarily a disadvantage. In a lot of ways, feelings are a good thing. They give us sympathy and compassion. They allow us to feel God and to know God. They help us to love God and to love people.

We just need wisdom to determine right feelings from wrong feelings.
We have to be careful of which feelings we are letting in, which feelings we are giving in to, and which feelings we are following.

 

BUT FEELINGS ARE NOT EVERYTHING.

Feelings come and feelings go, and sometimes there’s nothing we can do about it. Though we can not always control our feelings, we can control how we respond to those feelings.
There is a time to follow what we feel, but there is also a time to stand up despite what we feel. Do not always let feelings dictate you. Do not let feelings manipulate you. Feelings are feelings. That’s all they are. They are not the be all and end all. You have a choice as to what you do with your feelings. Your choices determine your character. They determine your pathway. They determine your life. They can lead you to God or away from God.

Those who let their feelings dictate and control their life are like a leaf. They go wherever the wind blows. If the wind blows them up, they go up. If the wind blows them down, they go down. Where’s the stability? Where’s the character? We need to be people who are rooted. We need to be like a tree – rooted to the ground no matter where the wind blows.

I get it – It’s easier to follow feelings than to follow God. But feelings are not everything. God is everything. Feelings are not stable. God is stable.
Follow God, not your feelings. Put your trust in God, not your feelings. Put Him before your feelings. Put His Word and your convictions before your feelings. It’s a choice. But it’s a choice that determines everything.
How will you respond when feelings overtake you?
Make a choice. Give God control.  Do not let your feelings manipulate you.
Feelings are not everything. But He IS everything.