Who or what controls your feelings?
Can Christ really be relevant to my feelings? Too often we feel controlled by our feelings. Nothing seems to make a difference when things don’t go our way. But on the other hand, we may believe that nothing can squash our feelings when everything is going our way.
“I can’t change my feelings!”
All too often our feelings expose what we would rather keep hidden. When confronted with exposure, we argue that we can’t change our feelings. And then we deceptively believe that we must be dictated by our feelings. This may include feelings of anger, love, fear, insecurity, and on and on the list could go.
The excuses come in forms such as:
- “You can’t help who you love.”
- “He can’t control his anger.”
- “This is just the way I am.”
- “You know I can’t change how I feel.”
Behaviors reveal our feelings.
Jesus teaches that behaviors reveal the soul as easily as a tree is known by its fruit. So others can clearly see when Christ is not relevant to your feelings.
“Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.”
Matthew 7:15–20 NLT
Behaviors reveal our beliefs.
Behavior is a direct descendent of belief that reveals the condition of the soul. Mark adds to Matthew’s narrative by emphasizing the reason the behavior can reveal the heart—the heart establishes the behavior.
And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”
Mark 7:20–23 NLT
Our spiritual condition controls our values.
Our spiritual condition ultimately is what controls our values, which affects our beliefs and establish our thoughts, feelings, and actions.
Behavior modification may work on dogs, and even on people for a time; but if the heart is not set on God and His ways, then all thoughts, feelings, and behaviors will continue to pursue whatever self desires. But Christ can make a difference in our feelings. Christ is relevant to feelings.
“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things,
Jeremiah 17:9–10 NLT
and desperately wicked.
Who really knows how bad it is?
But I, the LORD, search all hearts
and examine secret motives.
I give all people their due rewards,
according to what their actions deserve.”
Christ is relevant to our feelings.
God must reveal our condition to us as we draw so close to Him that His light can make all things clear. We must desire to see the truth of who we really are and who God really is. Only when we yield our hearts to God’s will and our wills to God’s heart can we know that our values, beliefs, thoughts, feelings, and actions are in line with His desires for us.
Do you have feelings that need to be changed?
Yes, Christ is capable of changing your feelings! Christ is relevant to feelings.
Excerpts from Desperate Dependency by J. Kirk & Melanie D. Lewis.
Available from your favorite book retailers, including Amazon and Redemption Press. (As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.)
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