Today we move from thoughts to feelings. They are an undeniable part of who we are. Much like our thoughts, they must be mastered as well. However, some balance is important here. For years Christianity has been too much about rationale thought, which begins to create a pretty sterile if not uninteresting world. It reminds me of a quote from the movie Dead Poets Society…
We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.
Theology, orthodoxy are important pursuits as a function of the value of good thinking, God thinking that would be a blessing to us. But Christians have totally dismissed our emotional world which is a gift given to us by God. To be free, to love, to experience the heights of joy and the pit of despair. To throw all of these things away would be a great detriment to the human experience. Because emotions can lead us astray, doesn’t mean we should ignore them. Thinking has also led people astray… right…
The issue becomes mastery. Who is our master? Our mind… our thoughts are not like Gods’ thoughts. Our feelings… what does a life look like when it’s mastered by fear, anxiety, sexual attraction, food, power, what happens to a life mastered by feelings? Steven Tyler was talking about sobriety on a talk show years ago and asked the host, “If you could put a button on your arm that gave you the highest high, who of us wouldn’t be touching it all the time?” Those high feelings actually have a deadening effect, makes you need a higher high.
The results of lives rooted in feelings is evidenced in our culture all around us. So many spend their days looking for a higher high. Maybe it’s drugs, maybe its social media likes, maybe it’s being at the hub of the town gossip, maybe it’s the acquisition of a new thing, or a promotion. The question is are we being mastered by it? Does it consume us, does it feed our soul?
12 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be mastered by anything. 13 “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. I Cor 6:12-13
The good feelings we get from doing the right thing, is God’s gift to us, so enjoy it!! Just don’t let it be your master. The feeling comes from doing the right thing, if you begin to chase after the good feeling, you might not be doing the right thing, irony can be a heavy load, God wants to free us from missing the point!!
Truth, Grace, and Time 