Note from the author: I believe I wrote this sometime last year, but I felt the need to release it now. For whatever reason, it is hitting me on very personal level right now. I hope it ministers to you.
Do we really know what it means?
I have pondered on many things the past several days, but this one stands out today.
What is the relationship between faithfulness and feelings? And how does this impact my relationship with God?
As I grow, my dependency on feelings to fuel my faith dwindles. The goosebumps, tears, emotions, and tangible feelings are unnecessary. I am resolved that God is here and He loves me so I will show Him I love Him in my actions.
This is good for many reasons, but I’ll state one. It keeps me steadfast and less movable, because I am not driven by emotions. However, this is juxtaposed with this one question.
Would you want to be in a relationship with someone who has no feelings for you?
I will be the first to say I don’t. What’s the fun in that?
I mean think about it. You’ve been dating a guy for four years and he proposes. You LOVE him and have feelings for him, but you know he has no feelings for you. He is proposing because it’s the ‘right’ thing to do and he is faithful to you. Yet, he lacks heart. What?! That is not endearing at all. That certainly wouldn’t make me feel special. It would actually make me feel like a burden or a chore. I want both faithfulness AND feelings. I would want the entirety of his love and I would know if he truly reciprocated my affection. Let’s face it, we all know when someone really loves us versus when they are going through the motions.
God knows too.
I imagine He feels the same way when it comes to those of us who are “faithful” without any feelings or more importantly love. God wants our affection (a gentle feeling of fondness or liking). He wants our hearts. He wants faithfulness fueled by love, not obligation.
And so the Lord says,
Isaiah 29:13 NLT
“These people say they are mine.
They honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
And their worship of me
is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.”
Now, my thoughts are great and dandy, but they don’t mean anything if not backed by what God says. So, let’s get more into the scripture and see the correlation between faithfulness and feelings.
What does God’s love for us look like?
God’s love for us drove Him to sacrifice His one and only Son for our sake.
As Jesus prepared for the crucifixion, we see very clearly that He did not feel like dying on the cross, but He did it anyway because He loves the Father. He did it because He loves us. It may even be argued that His feelings for us drove Him to be faithful to us even if that meant being faithful to death on a cross. But I believe the stronger argument is that had He followed His feelings, He would not have died on the cross. His sacrifice of love was a choice. His feelings would catch up later. He did not allow His feelings to drive His decision.
“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
Luke 22:42, 44 NIV
Yet, we also see the same Jesus weep because He loved Lazarus and his sisters so much. Even in this instance, though He felt grief because of Lazarus’s death, He did not allow His feelings to move Him to raise Lazarus from the dead prematurely. There are times where we see Jesus moved with compassion for those around Him. Those are feelings. All throughout the Bible, we also see God, the Father, display emotions because of His great love for us. (See Zephaniah 3:17.)
Was He driven by His emotions? No. Did He have them? Yes.
So maybe just maybe faithfulness and feelings go together. Maybe the two create a more complete love. Faithfulness being primary and feelings being secondary.
To close, I believe God wants BOTH our faithfulness and our feelings. This is what the Spirit says…
I know what you have done and how hard you have worked. I know how long you can wait and not give up. I know that you cannot put up with sinful men. I know that you have put men to the test who call themselves missionaries. You have found they are not missionaries but are false.
You have waited long and have not given up. You have suffered because of Me. You have kept going on and have not become tired.
BUT I have this one thing against you. You do not LOVE Me as you did at first.
Remember how you once loved Me. Be sorry for your sin and love Me again as you did at first. If you do not, I will come to you and take your light out of its place. I will do this unless you are sorry for your sin and turn from it. You have ears! Then listen to what the Spirit says…
Revelation 2:2-5, 7 NLV
Commit to love Him with your faithfulness and your heart. Love Him completely.
Big hugs,
Ayanna