Tag: Romans 8:1

False feelings.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:1

Without realizing it, I wrote about this verse twice in a month period and only realized it several days after I wrote the second one. When God puts something in front of you, sometimes it’s really obvious.

Jim said something in his devotion that really struck a chord with me: “we are attacked by guilt, shame, judgement from others, and temptations all day long and rather than see the price paid [by Jesus] we see new charges.” When my focus is on my sin, that’s all I’m going to see. When my focus is on Jesus, I will see the victory over my sin that I have in Him. For some reason I get stuck in a frame of mind where I believe that my past sins are forgiven, but these new ones I have to work out on my own. But Jesus died for ALL of our sins – past, present, future. Just because I’m found in Him doesn’t mean I won’t sin anymore, it just means that He has already forgiven that sin. I just have to accept it.

This concept is very hard for me to wrap my head around most of the time. Jesus tells me that I’m holy and righteous, but satan keeps pointing out my sin and shame and I don’t feel very holy or righteous. I think what I need to do is claim it anyway. My feelings don’t even begin to compare to God’s truth. My emotions are human and can’t be trusted. What can be trusted? Jesus’ word and love for me.

I seriously need this reminder every day.

This was a supporting verse in Jim’s devotion today, but it hit home. He was talking about how all God asks us to do is keep His commandments – it sounds easy, but we’re sinners and we mess it up. Jim said something that pierced my heart: “Let’s focus on the pursuit [of God] and not the failures.” God convicts me all the time. He shows me things I could do better or things that I’m not doing that He’s directly calling me to do. He allows me to feel convicted to remind me that I need Him. But, I have a tendency to recognize my sin, ask God for forgiveness, and then hold it over my own head for forever, beating myself up along the way. I’m keeping my focus on the failures instead of the pursuit.

I often say that I don’t feel forgiven, redeemed, righteous, or any of the wonderful things God says I am. The thing is, it’s not because of anything God has done – His promises remain true, always. My feelings are just that – feelings. They are from my human heart and mind – places that satan just loves to creep into. I let him whisper reminders of my failures, and I listen, using them as an excuse to say, “Why bother?” I use them as proof that I’ll never live up, so I don’t even try. I CHOOSE to focus on my failures. Why do I do that?!

I think I would “feel” more forgiven if I cut myself some slack. I have to remember that everyone screws up because we’re all human. That’s exactly why we need Jesus… God knew we would mess it up. But the beautiful part is that He loves us anyway; He offers forgiveness anyway. I have to cling to who God says I am and not what I feel.

So, yeah. God has really been showing me that I can’t trust my feelings, as evidenced by that horrible anxious/ depressive episode I had a few weeks back. My mind is a dangerous place, because it’s only full of what I put in there. I want to be so full of God’s word and promises that there’s no room for doubt or temptation or shame. I want my heart to be so full of His love for me that I can’t help but feel joy ALL THE TIME. I’m so much closer to this than I was even a few years ago, but man, I’ve still got some work to do. Satan still gets wedged in there sometimes, and I willingly move some things around to give him some room.