The Truth Over Our Feelings

We hear the phrase “facts over feelings” often, usually in arguments or debates, but Scripture presents that idea in a much deeper and more personal way. Feelings are real. They are not something to ignore or dismiss. But they are not always reliable, and they are never meant to be the foundation of truth.

When Jesus was on the cross, He cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” in Matthew 27:46. In that moment, Jesus was expressing something very real. He felt the weight of separation, the depth of suffering, and the anguish of what He was enduring. But what is often overlooked is that Jesus was not just speaking from emotion—He was quoting Scripture. Those words come directly from Psalm 22:1.

Psalm 22 begins with despair, but it does not end there. It moves from anguish to trust, from suffering to victory. Even in the middle of His pain, Jesus anchored Himself in truth. His feelings were real, but they were not the full picture.

And that is where we often struggle.

When we feel hurt, rejected, anxious, or overwhelmed, our instinct is to sit in those feelings and let them define reality. We begin to believe things that are not true. We tell ourselves that we are alone, that things will never change, that God is distant, or that there is no way out of what we are facing. But Scripture tells us something very different.

In Jeremiah 17:9, we are reminded that “the heart is deceitful above all things.” That doesn’t mean our feelings are meaningless, but it does mean they are not always accurate. They can lead us in the wrong direction if we allow them to go unchecked.

This is why it is so important to know truth—because in moments when our feelings don’t align with reality, we have something to come back to.

In Psalm 42:5, David speaks to his own soul, saying, “Why are you cast down, O my soul… hope in God.” He acknowledges how he feels, but he does not stop there. He corrects himself with truth. He reminds himself of what is real, even when his emotions are telling him something different.

Jesus did the same thing on the cross.

He did not deny His suffering. He did not pretend everything was fine. But He also did not allow His feelings to stand alone. He anchored them in Scripture, in truth, in the bigger picture of what God was doing.

And we are called to do the same.

Comments

Jesus Would Advocate for Civil Disobedience

In March, executive orders from governors across the country forced us to stay home, to close schools and churches and to shut down private businesses. Businesses were classified as either "essential" or "non-essential." All businesses deemed "non-essential" were forced to close. This included markets, clothing stores, boutiques, dine-in restaurants, and beauty salons. State parks, city parks, beaches, walking trails, lakes, and other wide open spaces were closed as well. Many people feel that the "social distancing," as it has come to be known, and stay at home executive orders violate their constitutional rights, such as our First Amendment right to freely exercise our religion, our right to peaceably assemble, and that we shall not be deprived of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Some of the people who feel their rights have been violated have decided to exercise their First Amendment right to protest. Some have even chosen...

Covert Red Flags: The Real Things You Should Be Looking Out For in Relationships

Your relationship with your spouse should be the closest human relationship you ever have. As we are dating, we are assessing whether or not that person could potentially fit into our inner circle. This causes us to be on high alert for red flags. Most red flags are obvious--lack of communication, anger issues, irresponsibility, controlling behavior, abuse, etc. A quick Google search will bring up list upon list of red flags we should look out for. Being rude to waitstaff, not making your relationship public, not caring about XYZ, stone walling, gaslighting, and more can all be found on most lists. But what about the covert red flags? Those things that are less obvious. My first marriage taught me to look out for the overt red flags like the ones found in every advice column. My second marriage taught me to look out for covert red flags, ones that I never even realized were red flags until I could look back. The entire time we dated, I kept looking for the overt red fla...

The Church

My pastor fell. He fell hard. He fell in the most public way possible, and what makes it worse is that he actually committed the crimes he's accused of. My heart has been broken for months about it, and it's taken me that amount of time to write this whole article. He was indicted last week, and he turned himself in to Oklahoma authorities today. I’ve already seen at least 7 articles about the story posted just today. I started attending Gateway Church in 2007. From the moment I stepped foot on their Southlake Campus, it was home. The worship was moving, and every sermon--whether it was Senior Pastor Robert Morris, Preston Morrison, Tim Ross, Tom Lane, or any guest speaker--spoke directly to my heart. I took voracious notes each week. I have volumes of sermon notes on my bookcase in my bedroom. Soon after joining the church, Gateway started expanding to satellite campuses. The NRH Campus opened, which was much closer to our home, so we started attending this campu...

Search This Blog