{"id":93784,"date":"2026-02-08T11:46:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T17:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=93784"},"modified":"2026-02-08T11:46:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T17:46:11","slug":"the-language-of-feelings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-language-of-feelings\/","title":{"rendered":"The Language of Feelings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<p>by Gardner Hall<\/p>\n<p>Have you heard this type of language from disciples you know?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;I took it as a sign that God wanted us to be here.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;I think that God was trying to tell me something by allowing this to happen.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;I felt a providential nudge to do it.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Our evangelical friends have used this type of language for decades, and now it is exploding in popularity, not just among them but also among brethren we know! After all, we read their material and listen to their media. Postmodern thought, with its emphasis on trusting feelings with a corresponding distrust of language and the written word, has overwhelmed the religious world. The concept that God speaks directly to us through our feelings, hunches, and events in our lives is &#8220;in,&#8221; but it is dangerous for several reasons:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Even during those rare intervals in history of direct revelation, God didn&#8217;t speak to millions of followers through their premonitions, leadings, and inner illumination, but rather precisely to a few prophets through words (Acts 11:14). On rare occasions he confirmed those words with signs (Gideon, Hezekiah, Zechariah), but the original message always involved language, words.<\/li>\n<li>With our prejudices and inner biases, we have enough trouble being honest with God&#8217;s objective written word. Throw our &#8220;gut feelings&#8221; and other subjective impressions into the mix of what we feel to be God&#8217;s revelation, and the waters become hopelessly muddied.<\/li>\n<li>The lack of trust in the sufficiency of the written words of God&#8217;s inspired apostles and prophets has always been a prime mover behind apostasy. When some say longingly, &#8220;But don&#8217;t we need more than what we have in the scriptures?&#8221; they are frankly showing a lack of faith and a great disrespect for God&#8217;s chosen method of communicating with us.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Careful with &#8220;the language of Ashdod,&#8221; the jargon of those who look for God&#8217;s leading apart from inspired scripture! Scriptural principles are sufficient to reveal God&#8217;s will to us and to confirm our path before him (II Timothy 3:16, 17). In inspired scripture, we have the faith that was once for all time delivered to the saints (Jude 3). We don&#8217;t need more!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Gardner Hall Have you heard this type of language from disciples you know? &#8220;I took it as a sign that God wanted us to be here.&#8221; &#8220;I think that God was trying to tell me something by allowing this to happen.&#8221; &#8220;I felt a providential nudge to do it.&#8221; Our evangelical friends have used&hellip;<\/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,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[546,518],"class_list":["post-93784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-feelings","tag-guidance"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":89036,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/communication\/","url_meta":{"origin":93784,"position":0},"title":"Communication","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 29, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton A profound shift has occurred in the way we communicate. At one time, a speaker had something to say and would relay it to a listener. Basic communication, I know. \"Teaching, in its simplest sense, is the communication of knowledge.\"(1) There has to be a source\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":47649,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/just-telling-what-i-feel\/","url_meta":{"origin":93784,"position":1},"title":"Just Telling What I Feel","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 27, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38790,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/righteous-judgment\/","url_meta":{"origin":93784,"position":2},"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 &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28235,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-we-trust-our-feelings-about-salvation\/","url_meta":{"origin":93784,"position":3},"title":"Can We Trust Our Feelings About Salvation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 4, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Mike Johnson via\u00a0simplebiblestudies.com Some people claim to rely solely on their feelings for assurance of personal salvation. They may say, \"I know that I am saved because I feel that I am.\" They will often ignore very plain passages in the Bible about salvation because of a \"feeling\" that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","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\/2010\/12\/deli.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":54917,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-holy-spirit-and-my-feelings\/","url_meta":{"origin":93784,"position":4},"title":"The Holy Spirit and My Feelings","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 28, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40068,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-agree-we-cant-rely-on-our-feelings\/","url_meta":{"origin":93784,"position":5},"title":"I agree, we can&#8217;t rely on our feelings","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 3, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Thank you for this article on\u00a0the 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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93784","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=93784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93784\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}