Walking by Faith: The Secret to Feeling Good
“For we live by faith, not by sight” 2 Corinthians 5: 7.
An immature person only does right when they feel like it. That is, when they feel good. A mature person, by contrast, does what’s right consistently, no matter how they feel. Even if they feel worse than ever.
To read this passage for context, click here.
Because of this, we can rejoice when we aren’t in a good mood. And don’t feel like doing what we should (or not doing what we shouldn’t).
We Experience Life through our Emotions
Because that’s when we mature. IF we ignore how we feel and do what’s right anyway. That’s not to say that emotions aren’t valuable indicators of what’s going on inside. And the truth is, we experience life through our emotions.
But if we allow them to run our life, we will never grow up.
We medicate our pain with food, gambling, shopping, Netflix, drugs and alcohol, and many other things. We do it in an effort to avoid feeling our pain. Because we want to feel good all the time.
More often than we care to admit, we don’t do what’s right unless we feel good. And we don’t feel good unless we numb out our pain.
But in order to mature, we must learn to do what’s right even when we don’t feel like it. And to do that, we have to learn to stop using our addictions to deaden our senses.
The good new is, the more you do what’s right when you don’t feel like it, the less you will not feel like it.
Walking by Faith, the Secret to Feeling Good
I think this is the secret to feeling good.
A truly mature person doesn’t allow their circumstances to get them down.
They have learned to walk by faith and not by sight.
They have peace all the time, no matter what they’re going through. And aren’t like the waves of the sea, driven and tossed around by the winds of circumstance (see James 1: 6).
They are constant, stable and steadfast. Not only in what they say and do, but also in how they feel.
For example, the Psalmist in Psalm 112: 7 tells us the righteous don’t let fear control them. “They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord”.
The question is, how did they get that way?
By doing what’s right, of course, no matter how they felt.
But this in itself requires a certain degree of maturity.
And that’s where prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit comes in.
That’s why Jesus said “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” Mathew 26: 41.
This should encourage us on those days when we want to pull the covers over our heads and push the snooze button until noon.
If we just do what’s right in spite of how bad we feel, we will be on the path to feeling good.
Best Friend or Worst Foe
Actually, those negative emotions can be our best friend, or worst enemy, depending on how we respond to them.
They are our worst foe if we allow them to control us. And if we choose to not do what we know we should because we don’t feel like it.
This will lead to greater immaturity. . . and more negative feelings.
Those negative emotions can be our best friend, though, if we don’t allow them to have the upper hand. And if we do what’s right, despite how bad we feel.
The worse we feel on those days we choose to do what’s right anyway, the more we’ll grow and mature.
Feel Good and Become Whole by Walking by Faith
So, those bad feelings are really a glorious opportunity to mature and become whole. And to feel good in the end.
And this is true of any temptation.
It’s the doorway to greater weakness, corruption and destruction, if we yield to it.
But it’s also the avenue to more strength, maturity and abundant life. If we resist it.
So negative emotions, like all temptation are really neutral. They are neither good nor bad.
It’s how we respond that determines whether they are good or bad, a blessing or a curse to us.
Actually, without temptation, our faith would have no opportunity to gain endurance. And we would not become mature and whole.
We can’t inherit our promise land and partake of the abundant life unless we become mature and whole.
That’s why “. . . for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” Romans 8: 28.
It’s those who love God who use the temptation and negative emotions and the dirt of life to overcome and take a step up.
It’s because of our love for God that “. . . in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” Romans 8: 37.
For another post related to Walking by Faith: The Secret to Feeling Good, see Commentary on the Parable of the Sower: Barren.
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