Can We Trust Our Feelings?

You will make known to me the way of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.
(Psalm 16:11 NASB)

One of my mother’s favorite rules for us kids was, “You can’t trust your feelings.” To this day I can clearly recall her words warning us against relying on our emotions: “What you really want, son, are the facts. Facts are your friends. Feelings will change on you.”

Never trust your feelings. Many of us were raised on that statement. But I think it needs to be tempered. It is the word never that I stumble over. Since peace, which is an emotion, is a part of the inner affirmation that God gives us when we are in the nucleus of His will, you and I better trust it! We are instructed to “let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts” (Colossians 3:15), so we certainly must give peace its due.

Tradition also says: Let your conscience be your guide. Well, it all depends on the condition of your conscience! Sometimes one’s conscience is reliable, sometimes not.

Conscience is like a compass. If a compass is faulty, you’ll quickly get off course. A conscience gets its signals from the heart, which can be dulled, hardened, or calloused. Furthermore, a conscience can be overly sensitive or can even drive one mad.

In order for one’s conscience to be a good guide, one the Spirit can direct, it needs to be healthy, sensitive, and capable of getting God’s message and truth.

This is a good time to add that the message of Christ is not devoid of emotions. When one realizes the true condition of the heart without God and ponders the impact of his or her sinfulness, there is an emotional reaction. I have offended. I have grieved the heart of God. I have driven nails into Christ’s hands with my sins.

When the truth of forgiveness and grace and God’s overwhelming love pour over me, I react emotionally. When I realize that God has reserved a home in heaven for me—a reprobate sinner running in the other direction when He stopped me, turned me around in grace, and brought me to Himself—that brings an emotional response. Don’t deny those emotions!

God gave you emotions. Don’t be afraid of them. Let them out. Allow your heart to show through. Exercise your emotions. If we refuse to open up, to allow the full prism of His love and truth to shine through our lives, we will miss much of the color life has to offer.