Feelings vs Truth

How many times do you hear the words, "how do you feel about that"? In our self-help world, that sentence has become very common. We analyze how we feel about ourselves and how we feel about others. We worry about how people feel about us. We look at our children and wonder what they are feeling. Are they happy? Did that girl just hurt their feelings? Did that comment make her feel bad about herself? How we feel can begin to consume our thought process and our daily routine.


Being a parent brings with it all kinds of feelings and emotions. And if you are like me, you tend to get caught up in your children's feelings. Big mistake! As the mom of 3 girls, I have seen a lot of emotions and tears and feelings. I had to decide a long time ago what I was going to do with all those feelings. There was a time in my life when I thought that I would be consumed with all the emotions. The fear, the hurt, the panic, the needs, the everyday junk were overwhelming sometimes. The times when everyone seemed to have a crisis could put me in panic mode if I let myself dwell on what I was feeling and what they were feeling.


The world tells us that we have a right to our feelings. That it is okay to act on those feelings. But as with most things, I think it is a matter of our perspective. Jesus had feelings. He wept over Lazarus. He was angry when he turned over the tables in the temple. He was troubled in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was passionate with His prayers. But... He never confused His feeling with His Truth.


That is the reason I began journaling years ago. I was confusing my feelings with what I knew to be Truth. As I would write out how I was feeling then I could compare that to what I knew was God's Truth. What I found out was that my feelings were wrapped up in what was happening around me. And I found myself parenting out of those feelings a lot of time, instead of out of Truth.


Of course the key to all of this is knowing what His Truth is. I have spent a lot of years in Bible study. Getting to know what God's Word says and learning about what it means. My girls have been blessed with a church that believes in equipping the next generation with God's Word. They have been taught not only at home, but at church what Truth is. It is buried in their hearts. And I have tried to remind them over the years that what they are feeling does not always line up with the Truth.


It is a daily battle. A daily learning experience. I usually get swept away in the feelings before I remember to stop and compare it to the Truth; but the habit of thinking this way has gotten a little easier over the years. I have been thinking a lot about feelings the last few days. I am learning to ask the Lord what He wants me to know about what I am feeling compared to what I know. I am listening for His answers. As I write them down, I might share some of it with you.


How do you feel about that? 

Don't be like the people of this world,

but let God change the way you think.

Then you will know how to do everything 

that is good and pleasing to Him.

Romans 12:2