by Doy Moyer<\/p>\n
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 and do not seem to be waning. Feelings have overtaken facts; it is more important that we do not hurt feelings (as defined by … feelings) than that we deny truth and reality.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the feelings-over-truth paradigm is also found among believers in God. We define what it means to glorify God by what we like and feel rather than allowing God to define what He wants. This is evident in the worship-for-entertainment industry. Some seem to be more interested in being rock stars for Christ than humbly submitting to God’s expressed will.<\/p>\n
Humility must control feelings. Feelings can be arrogant, selfish, and demanding of others. What matters is what I feel. Me. Not you. Me. Humility, however, constrains and limits how we allow our feelings to outweigh the need to submit to God and others. “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves” (Phil 2:3). This is the mind of Christ.<\/p>\n
Feelings are not a proper source of truth. We may feel otherwise, but then we have entered the vicious circle of defining truth by our own desires. That lie can be traced back to the garden. When we allow that to happen, then we will inevitably let the flesh take over the Spirit.<\/p>\n
Herein is the difference between letting our feelings take precedence over truth and vice versa: “For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit<\/em>” (Romans 8:5 – really, the whole chapter; and while you’re at it, the two previous chapters … and the whole book).<\/p>\n What will define your actions today? The flesh (your feelings) or the Spirit (God’s will)? Feelings are very good followers, not leaders, of truth, but we must first give way to that Truth in Christ so that our feelings will do what they were actually meant to do. Therein will we be set free from sin (John 8:31ff).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[546,441],"class_list":["post-47649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-feelings","tag-truth"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":38790,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/righteous-judgment\/","url_meta":{"origin":47649,"position":0},"title":"Righteous Judgment (Article)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Truth is narrow. There is only one truth. We prefer the truth, but often we are attracted by falsehoods. You watch a movie and see the hero do what you know are impossible deeds. You hear the people on screen witness to the impossible deeds as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52757,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/trapped-in-a-lie\/","url_meta":{"origin":47649,"position":1},"title":"Trapped in a Lie","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 11, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: James 3:8-14 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I ran across an article titled, \u201cThe Philosophical Contradictions of the Transgender Worldview\u201d by Ryan T. Anderson \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The transgender movement claims \u201cthat people are what they claim to be, regardless of contrary evidence.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The lengths the promoters of transgenderism go to deny\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24434,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-depression-make-you-feel-empty\/","url_meta":{"origin":47649,"position":2},"title":"Can depression make you feel empty?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 2, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can our own minds push us away from God? I mean, if you're too hurt, can you feel dead? I've been really hurt lately. I haven't had the intent to do anything.\u00a0My parents are worried and my friends. I'm feeling like I never did before. I spend every minute\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12972,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/its-not-how-you-feel\/","url_meta":{"origin":47649,"position":3},"title":"It’s Not How You Feel","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 13, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":88561,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-is-telling-the-truth\/","url_meta":{"origin":47649,"position":4},"title":"Who Is Telling the Truth?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 10, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jerry Falk A friend on Facebook recently asked, \"How do you know 'facts' are truth or lies?\" Apparently, he was referring to the current political climate in the United States. I took his question a step further. If we reject the existence of God and dismiss biblical morality, on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/questioning-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":90174,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/not-feeling-the-spirit-move-there\/","url_meta":{"origin":47649,"position":5},"title":"Not Feeling the Spirit Move There?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton I've heard several speak of attending various churches and \"not feeling the Spirit move\" there. This idea is foreign to the Bible. Feelings have never been the detector of the Spirit of God. If you rely upon feelings, you are not relying upon the Spirit of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47649\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}