Over the last few years, I have had the privilege of walking alongside many men who were seeking to live a life of greater purity and wholeness. One of the comments that I repeatedly heard many of those men make is that their sin was based on how they felt at a specific time. Some men shared that they felt insecure or lonely, while others shared that they felt too tired, too stressed or too overwhelmed, etc. While our feelings and emotions are real, they do not always reflect truth.
When I hear men share about how their feelings led to their choice(s) to sin, I couldn’t help but think of the song by Boston, “More Than a Feeling”. It’s a catchy song and was even named the 39th best rock song of all time by VH1. Why do I bring this up? Because the title of this song reminds me of my own journey towards greater purity and wholeness.
In my life, there were many times when I would choose to sin because of the way I felt. Perhaps I was tired so I felt I was unable to control myself. Or maybe I was feeling tempted so I believed that giving in was easier than fighting on. Too often I based many of my decisions on how I felt at that exact moment. I soon learned though that basing decisions on feelings often leads to pain and regret. I’ve felt pain and regret because I had chosen to sin which then caused others great pain. Even though my sin took place in private, it often affected those closest to me.
After many years of living this lifestyle, I began to ponder whether this was really the way I wanted to continue living my life. While I recognized and accepted the fact that my emotions were real and my feelings were often intense, they often led me down a path that I knew would end bad. Perhaps you too have learned, as I have, that making a decision in the “heat of the moment” is typically not the wisest thing to do.
But just like Boston sang so many years ago, my walk with God and obedience to Him is based on “More Than a Feeling”. It is based on His Word, which is my foundation. It is a foundation that is stable. It is a foundation that can withstand the fiercest of storms. It is a foundation that can provide shelter in the midst of dangerous times. It has been, and will always be, the one place where I can find lasting peace, stability, security, and strength. Do I still follow my emotions and feelings? Of course, I do. I am an extrovert l and I tend to wear my emotions on my sleeve. But when I am in the midst of intense emotions and feelings, I have learned to process them through the lens of God’s Word. That is my constant prayer and pursuit and I pray that it is yours as well.
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