Posts Tagged ‘feelings’
Why don’t I feel faith?
Question: Hello, I have a question that I really have not been able to find answers to, and I do not dare to talk to anyone about it. Several years ago, I started going to a church because I was really convinced that God was sending me to do it. I had a lot of…
Read MorePeace and Truth
by Doy Moyer There are people I genuinely like but with whom I have strong disagreements. Some are on opposite theological and political isles, yet I feel kindly disposed toward them. I cannot explain this. It’s just something that you either get or don’t. I suspect that this is true of most people. We have…
Read MoreHow sorry do you have to be to repent?
Question: How sorry do you have to be for your sins to repent? I am sorry, but I don’t think I’m sad enough or something because I’m not in tears over my sins, even though I want to be. I worry about my salvation every day. It’s been over ten years, and I’m miserable. I…
Read MoreDo I have enough faith?
Question: Hello Mr. Hamilton, I am writing to you because I have been researching OCD a lot, and I see that you address a lot of OCD-related issues. I know I have OCD, although I have never been formally diagnosed. I deal with unwanted thoughts, thoughts I feel like I want, urges, sensations, and feelings,…
Read MoreOf Moods and Motivation
by Jason Moore There are days I don’t feel like working. There are days when I’m around people that I don’t want to be. I’d rather not smile. I’d rather be alone and not be bothered. Moods are peculiar things. Like the weather, they’re hard to predict. They are affected by so many variables –…
Read MoreDo You Feel Saved?
by Wayne Greeson Are you saved? How do you know you are saved? “I know I am saved because I feel it in my heart,” many often say. But are the feelings of your heart the proper standard to determine your salvation? We do not use this standard in other matters. No one says of…
Read MoreTradition, Feeling, and Scripture
by Doy Moyer Tradition is basically what has been handed down for the next generation to believe and practice. There is nothing wrong with that. Teachings and practices are meant to be passed down. Indeed, tradition is necessary and unavoidable, and no one is without traditions of some kind (including any who claim to dislike…
Read MoreI don’t feel like a true Christian
Question: I am 27 years old, I’ve gone to church all my life but never felt like a Christian. I made the decision to become one and live right. (I was baptized as well.) Does it take a while to become a true Christian? I don’t feel like one — like a true one –…
Read MoreWhen are emotions wrong?
Question: When are emotions wrong? If you feel something, does that make it automatically wrong, or is there more to it than that? One thing I really struggle with is when I feel certain things, I automatically get upset with myself for having felt them at all. Answer: “He who trusts in his own heart…
Read MoreHow to Stay Positive in a Negative World
by Hugh Fulford Christianity is both positive and negative. There are two gates: the wide and the narrow. To be saved, we must enter the narrow and avoid the wide (Matthew 7:13-14) There are two ways: the broad and the narrow. To be saved, we must walk in the narrow and stay out of the…
Read MoreJust Telling What I Feel
by Doy Moyer That our culture has been trained to act more on feelings than objective truth and reality is evident in so many ways that it hardly needs proving. The outbursts of anger, the murders, the sexual abuses, the lack of civility, the completely irrational denials of reality, and more are ever before us…
Read MoreHormones
by Joe Fitch “Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (II Timothy 2:22) Paul reminds and warns young Timothy of the danger in youthful lusts. Not all youthful lusts are sexual, but surely sexual lusts are included — maybe top…
Read MoreI know God has been keeping me with my boyfriend, so am I wrong to stay?
Question: Praise the Lord, I’m an 18 years old Christian girl and am dating a Muslim boy who’s 22 years old now. We have been in a relationship for two years now. We are deeply in love and are planning to get married after two years when I am done with my college. About my…
Read MoreI don’t feel connected to God or other people
Question: Hello, I apologise in advance for what may be a lengthy email, but I would love to hear your thoughts on my situation. I am concerned about whether I am loving God properly. I believe in God and the Bible, I am Christian and I try to obey the commandments, (no fornication, no alcohol…
Read MoreTell Me What To Do, Lord
(But Do Not Expect Me To Do It) by Carey Scott “Who say, Let Him make speed, let Him hasten His work, that we may see it; and let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come to pass, that we may know it!” (Isaiah 5:19). There are several observations that…
Read MoreI feel separated from God
Question: Hello, I was doing some research on some topics concerning me and came upon Can you explain what “if we sin willfully” in Hebrews 10:26 means? First of all, thank you for your contributions and answers. I have been a bit worried and confused recently after experiencing quite a bad heartbreak and betrayal. I…
Read MoreIt’s Not How You Feel
by Aubrey Belue Does it “feel good?” Does it feel “right?” If so, today’s culture says, “go for it!” Thus, we make “right” what our feelings say it is, rather than what it really is. Somehow, we have reached the point in contemporary reasoning that most say that one can pursue his individual dream without…
Read MoreGodly things don’t interest me
Question: Good morning, sir, Sir, now the things of God do not interest me. I have not really told anyone about Christ because when I tell them about Christ most of them agree to hand over their lives to Christ, but at the end, I realize that I am not happy. It seems like their…
Read MoreDistinguishing Faith and Feelings
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/DistinguishingFaithAndFeelings.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Hebrews 11:1-6 I. Many in the denominational world are told that faith is this feeling you have inside that you are doing what is right. A. Mormons in selling Mormonism will ask you to pray and that the Holy Spirit will give you a feeling inside regarding whether what they…
Read MoreThe Holy Spirit and My Feelings
by Doy Moyer It’s not good theology to attribute to the Holy Spirit that which the Holy Spirit never attributes to Himself. Doing so results in both faulty and contradictory claims, and this is exactly what we often see. Feelings get attributed to the Spirit, which are then contradictory to the feelings of others who…
Read MoreI’m trying to turn my life around, but it just doesn’t feel like when I was first saved
Question: Thank you so much for taking my question. Many years ago, when I was about 18 years old, I was saved. My life was completely changed at that moment, and I remember how for weeks following, I would go outside at night by myself and look up in the sky and contemplate God, in…
Read MoreIf It Feels Right then Go with It
by Edward O. Bragwell, Sr. If “it feels right then go with it” is the prevailing philosophy of too many in our time. Along with this, we are told by “experts” that it is unhealthy to suppress one’s feelings. Folks are encouraged to let it all out. The idea of exercising self-control and discretion to…
Read MoreWhat do I do to feel peace?
Question: I am a drunken adulteress. God has come to me to be reborn again, and I’m failing. Please help me. What do I do to feel peace? I hate the daytime and awake through the night with nightmares of my sins. Help me. Answer: “The things which you learned and received and heard and…
Read MoreHow do I pray when I don’t feel like it?
Question: I have been good at praying. Recently though, I just feel like my prayer life is going downhill. It started with my nightly devotion and now with my morning devotion. I am just not in the mood to pray. I know how important prayer is, so it worries me. My house has become too…
Read MoreAm I lying if I tell someone “sorry” or “I love you” when I don’t feel it?
Question: I can be very detail-oriented. Sometimes I feel like my words aren’t inaccurate, and I wonder if I should look at it as lying. There are still certain things I don’t know if I should think of as lying. For example, is saying “sorry” as a polite gesture wrong if I don’t feel remorse…
Read MoreWhat do you consider to be worry?
Question: What do you consider to be worry? I mean, I worry about losing interest in God and not having that same feeling I get when I desire to read a story in the Bible or I just get scared I’m doing something wrong because sometimes I don’t feel close to Him and my feelings…
Read MoreCan a child baptized without his parents’ knowledge feel the presence of God?
Question: If a child was baptized as a baby without the parents’ knowledge but raised in a Jewish home, could that child feel the presence of God without knowing it? Answer: There are too many false assumptions in this question. One does not need to be baptized to feel God’s presence. God’s presence is known…
Read MoreI find myself not caring like I used to
Question: Hello, I’m a 16-year-old girl. I received Christ as my personal Saviour for about 2 or 3 years now. But recently something has been bugging me. I feel as if my conscience has left or something. It sounds crazy or stupid, but I find that I have to force myself to feel guilty or…
Read MoreI don’t know if my feelings were genuine when I received Christ
Question: You may not know me, but I have seen what you wrote and you seem wise. I ask that you give me a genuine answer. Here goes pouring out my heart’s doubts: I am not sure that I have received Christ. I don’t know if my feeling was genuine and God was touching me,…
Read MoreSubjective Spirit Leading
by Terry Wane Benton Subjective “Spirit Leading” is when one is moved by imagined nudging and impulses, then attributes that imagination to the “leading of the Spirit.” It often never is in complete harmony with the Spirit’s “revelation” in the Bible. It is sometimes outright contrary to Spirit guidance through “revelation” (Ephesians 3:3-5). It is…
Read MoreI didn’t answer the altar call when I should have. Have I offended God?
Question: I think I messed up big time this past Sunday. During a song, my pastor stepped to the pulpit and gave an invitation to the lost. The Spirit moved so powerfully during the song that the preacher didn’t get to preach that morning. I’m saved, but during this invitation, God was convicting me to…
Read MoreIs it possible to feel the presence of God when one worships Him?
Question: Is it possible to feel the presence of God when one worships Him? Answer: You ask the question in the wrong way because in the realm of possibility when dealing with God, almost anything is possible. But if you ask how God made His presence known in the past, then we find: Seen “And they…
Read MoreI agree, we can’t rely on our feelings
Question: Thank you for this article on the church of Oprah. I’m a devout Christian. I agree 100 percent. God wants us not to rely on our own feelings but on His understanding! What happens when a new-ager feels like killing his child? How can you justify your whole self by feelings? Humans are so emotional,…
Read MoreI keep promising God to do good, but I always fail. How can I not let God down anymore?
Question: I have made many promises to God. I have said this is enough I will do good from now on no more bad, but every time I fall back. I feel as if God is tired of me and is done. I don’t feel good enough or worthy enough to be a Christian. When…
Read MoreI deceived myself into thinking I was saved when I was lost
Question: Dear Minister, I have been in a state of utter despair for the past 1.5 years. I feel like I am in a horrific state of having rejected the gift of Jesus and now finding myself with no place for repentance. I had deceived myself into thinking that I was saved when I was…
Read MoreWhy do I feel like I’m failing?
Question: Hi, Before I go any further, a little about myself. Almost two years ago I broke up from my first relationship that lasted about a year and a half. I admit I committed fornication, but when I realized it was a sin, I thought it was too late and God would not forgive me.…
Read MoreWhy do I feel detached from those I forgive?
Question: Dear Jeff, I have a personal predicament on my hands: I don’t think I’m forgiving enough to the point of mending relationships or maintaining friendships. I mean, I can look at plenty of Bible verses about forgiveness, and I do, but at best it just makes me detach myself away from the person as…
Read MoreWhy don’t I feel God?
Question: Hello, I’m 15 and I have accepted Christ. You see I always say I’m sorry for my sins. But my friend told me that when he repented he could feel God in him like all of him was being hugged like a warm feeling. I don’t understand. Why haven’t I felt that? I always…
Read MoreWhy can’t I feel repentance?
Question: Hello, I am in a similar situation as the man who asked you “How do I repent of adultery when I don’t feel sorry for doing it?” After reading your response, I am still confused about what to do. According to you, I feel sorrow but not repentance. I believe God exists, so honestly,…
Read MoreWhy do some people not feel guilty for their sins?
Question: Hello, I just wanted to ask about a question that’s been bothering me for a while now. I understand that when a person does something wrong, they will feel guilty about it (usually). From a Christian’s point of view, it’s often the Holy Spirit’s discipline that makes one feel guilty. What about psychopaths though?…
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