| A command...not a suggestion |
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15:12 "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 15:13 Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. It's foolish to believe that we must feel before we act. Scripture appears to command us to do things regardless of how we feel. Because we confuse feelings with actions, we conveniently justify living for ourselves because we haven't been "moved" to do so. Imagine if everyone in our church waited for their feelings in order to act--no one would do anything. As they wait for the Holy Spirit to scream at them to move in the moment, they ignore the commands the Holy Spirit already gave some time ago. What if their feelings lie? What if there are no feelings at all? What if their "feelings" tell them the very opposite of what God commands them? What if we allowed our feelings to determine whether we obey or not...probably go something like this: God would command, Speak the truth...and we'd say, I feel like I'll be rejected. Love your enemies....no, I feel like they don't deserve it. Confess your sin...I feel I'm not that bad, it wasn't that bad, God shouldn't be so upset. Repent of your sin...it feels so good. Give to the Lord...I feel insecure about that. Sing to the Lord...I feel embarrassed. While life is full of feelings that can be good or bad (not necessarily right or wrong), we also realize that they are ever-changing and not always trustworthy. Without trying, we're influenced by our feelings, but with godly discipline we are not governed by them. |
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