Emotions/Feelings VS Truth: Which Dictates Your Choices

Disclaimer: Yes, we are human and yes, we have emotions. I am not negating that fact, but I am presenting reasons why we should not let our emotions lead us and I am also offering tips on how to not be led by them. Our emotions should not be in the driver’s seat of our lives.

Examples of what it looks like to be led by our emotions:

Exodus 24: 1-18

Summary: God told Moses to go up on the mountain to meet with Him and that while he was there God would give him the stone tablets with the law and the commandments on them. Moses went up to the mountain to receive the law and ten commandments. A cloud covered the mountain for six days because the glory of the Lord rested on it.

Exodus 24: 17-18 In the sight of the Israelites the appearance of the glory and brilliance of the Lord was like consuming fire on the top of the mountain. Moses entered the midst of the cloud and went up the mountain; and he was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

Exodus 32:1-14

Meanwhile the people started to complain because Moses was on the mountain longer than they thought he should be. They asked Aaron to make a false god for them to worship. Aaron relented and made a false god for them. God saw what they were doing and told Moses to go back down to the people. God was going to destroy all of them, but Moses interceded for them.

They took their eyes off God, His timing, and His purpose and instead perhaps allowed fear, doubt, anger, and control to dictate their actions. Whatever the emotion they were allowing to guide them it certainly was not faith in God.

I Samuel: Saul and David

King Saul started out really liking David and David helped him a lot, but then Saul allowed jealously to creep in. Saul was driven by hate, jealously, and anger and he wanted to kill David which became a huge part of his downfall. He didn’t like how the people received David and he started looking at all David’s accomplishments. His focus shifted from love to hate because he allowed negative emotions to drive his actions.

Matthew 26: 69-75: Peter denies Jesus

Peter had spent so much time with Jesus and he had created a close bond and friendship with Him. He loved Him, walked with Him, was friends with Him, but fear caused Peter to deny Jesus.

These are just a few examples of what can happen when we allow our emotions to dictate our behavior.

In our own lives we can be tossed all over the place in our relationship with God if we base it on how we are feeling at the time. We must learn to base our relationship with Him on His Word-the only and only unfailing truth.

Our feelings can change moment to moment, and they can lead us to making very poor choices that, at times, can have lifelong consequences. Emotions can change a million times a day and if we base our walk with Him on feelings, we will be all over the place. Up one day and down the next.

There are so many areas where we could be allowing our emotions to lead the way. Some examples are in our marriage, the choice to divorce, picking a new job, quitting a job, walking away from God (anger, doubt, misunderstanding), deciding to do or not do ministry, experiencing broken relationships, and the list goes on and on.

I think there is so much fighting among Christians today because so many of us are living out of our feelings, flesh, and emotions and not the truth found in God’s Word.  The enemy wants us all caught up in our feelings and not in the truth. Our feelings may not even be based on reality and there is a high probability they are not based on truth. Our feelings are like wild animals. They rage and roar and are all over the place. They can often feel out of control to the point we may even think it is impossible to tame them.  

Living out of our feelings can also cause us to be temporal minded and not kingdom/eternal focused. We can easily lose sight of the importance of witnessing to others about God’s goodness and instead focus on how we feel and what is not going right in our lives. We are called to be the light of Christ to the world, but we must actively shine His light. Staying grounded in His truth will help us stay kingdom focused.

Matthew 5:14-16 “You are the light of [Christ to] the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good deeds and moral excellence, and [recognize and honor and] glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Again, I want to make it clear that I am not saying we should not or do not experience emotions, but I am saying they should not be guiding our decision making. God made us with emotions, but one of the fruit of the Spirit is self-control. Part of self-control is controlling our emotions and not letting them have their own way. Galatians 5: 22-23.

Now let’s turn our focus to what it looks like to be led by the truth found in God’s Word.

David: 1 Samuel 17

David was a young man who ran to battle against a massive giant named Goliath. He didn’t focus on Goliath, but instead he ran to battle because he knew God was with him. He remembered situations in the past where God had come through for him and he knew God would come through this time as well. David based his reactions on who God was in him and who he was in God. He did not base them on the giant standing in from of him.

Joseph: Genesis

Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers. The very ones who were supposed to love and care for him. After he was sold into slavery his masters wife lied and said he tried to sexually assault her, so he was unjustly thrown into prison. He was eventually released and placed in a high position by the reining king. His family came to him because there was a famine, and he was the only source of food. He reconciled with his family and took care of them regardless of the way they had treated him. When his brothers sold him into slavery, he made the best of each situation and God blessed him. He did not fall into the trap of bitterness and unforgiveness.

Esther

Esther was a Jewish woman who married the king after the king became angry with his wife for disobeying him. Once Esther marred him she found out there was a plot to kill all of the Jewish people. After prayer and fasting she went in to talk to the king without being summoned which could have resulted in her death. She petitioned for the lives of her people and God worked through her to save the children of Israel. She did not let fear stop her from doing what God had called her to do.

Paul: New Testament

Before Saul became Paul he hated Christians and did everything possible to make them suffer even to the point of killing them. On his way to kill more Christians Jesus called out to him and forever changed his life. From that moment forward he gave his life to the service of God. We can read many stories about him in the New Testament. He was beaten, jailed, shipwrecked, bitten by a poisonous snake, ridiculed, etc., but he never let any of that stop him from doing the work of the Lord. He did not let fear, worry, anxiety, doubt, or sadness derail the plans and purposes God had for his life.

How to be led by the truth found in God’s Word:

We must know the truth to be led by it. We cannot be led by something that we are not familiar with, so step number one is reading God’s Word (Bible). We should be cultivating a consistent habit of reading and studying His Word.

We also need to understand where our fight belongs. It is not with people (not against flesh and blood), but instead it is with the demons who hate us. It is easy to get caught up and keep a tally of who did what to us, but what we really need to focus on is who created that attack and where it is originating from. We have an enemy who only wants to kill, steal, and destroy us and they will use any means possible. John 10:10. Recognizing that we do not fight against each other helps to not be led by hurt, pain, rejection, etc.  

Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places.

Crucifying the flesh is a must because the flesh is ran by our emotions.  

Don’t deny your feelings, but instead immediately take them to God. Don’t let negative emotions linger and fester, don’t analyze them, don’t stuff, or deny them. Take them directly to God. For example, if I am walking in my living room and I stub my toe and I immediately feel extreme anger. I can pretty much guess the root cause is not stubbing my toe. Something else is going on. At that point I would sit with God and say something like this, “Lord, I am not sure what is going on. I need clarity about this situation and where this anger is coming from. I am asking You to take me to the root cause of this anger and show me what is going on in my emotions.” I would then wait on Him to start showing me the root cause. Once He shows me the root cause I would repent of anything that needs repented of, I would then ask Him to remove the root completely, and then I would ask Him to replace the root with His healing and anything else He wants to do in my emotions.

We must also submit to God and resist every single lie of the enemy. Some lies can come in the form of feelings of depression, anxiety, fear, doubt, etc.  

James 4:7 So submit to [the authority of] God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him] and he will flee from you.

For example, in my life I used to struggle greatly with depression. I was set free on May 24^th, 2020. However, since that time there have been different occasions where demons have tried to make me feel depressed or they have even told me that I may fall back into depression again. As soon as either happens I use James 4:7 as a weapon. I say something like this, “Listen demons, I am fully submitted to God. I give Him my everything. I resist you, every single lie, and every single attack. You are a liar and I cling to God’s truth. He set me free, and I do not have depression. And now you must flee. This is not a discussion. You have no choice. The Word of God says it and you must obey it. In the name of Jesus leave now.” This takes about a couple of minutes from start to finish. As soon as I recognize the attack I respond and stand by faith that it must go, and it does. I don’t analyze it, think about it, fixate on it, or let it linger. It is a lie and it must go, period.

We cannot lean on our own understanding. We must let go of the idea that we must or even will understand everything. We need to be comfortable with the fact that there are many things we will never understand this side of heaven and we need to let the need to understand go.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart And do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him,
And He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way].

We cannot allow any negative emotions to define us or be part of our character and identity.

Link to Teaching Video: https://youtu.be/BoE4eQqEpQ0?si=aaSQUKCDX4JPKMRg

Blessings,

Nichole Henson, MSW

Fullness of Joy Ministry