Feeling VS Fact
Posted in: Discovering God, Personal Growth, Stories
The fact is that God’s Word, the Bible, is our authority, not our feelings. The Christian lives by faith in the trustworthiness of God and His Word.
Take, for example, a flak vest. It is a fact that a flak vest, equipped with ceramic plates, will provide protection from most bullets or pieces of shrapnel that travel up to 2750 feet per second. So, by faith, a warrior puts on a flak vest to provide himself with additional protection, which gives the warrior a greater feeling of safety.
In contrast, a warrior may take cover behind a wall which gives him a feeling of protection in a firefight. However, the fact is that the wall may be flimsy plywood, which would give little or no protection at all.
What facts are you putting your faith in?
In the spiritual arena, we have facts (God and His Word), faith (our trust in God and His Word), and feelings (our emotional response to our environment).
The question then is, “What facts are you putting your faith in?”
This classic illustration shows Fact (the engine) pulling the train. Faith (the coal car) fuels the engine. and Feeling (the caboose) trails along behind. (Although it trails along, the caboose is important – it is where the train crew lives.) Feelings cannot pull the train and Fact without Faith will go nowhere.
Acknowledge your feelings but do not be led by them! And be sure you are putting your faith in the right facts.
Many things happened the moment you received Christ.
The following five events are important to remember. You might want to write them in the front of your Bible.
1 ) Christ came into your life. (Rev 3:20, Col 1:27)
2) Your sins were forgiven. (Eph 1:7, Col 1:13-14)
3) You became a child of God. (John 1:12)
4) You received eternal life. (John 3:16, John 5:24)
5) You began the great adventure for which God created you. (Jer 29:11, John 10:10, 2 Cor 5:17)
Personal reflection:
Describe a time when you were led by your feelings, contrary to what the facts told you. Or when your feelings contradicted the facts you knew to be true.
The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.