Sprachen 
Pay attention to your thoughts, because they become feelings.
Pay attention to your feelings because they become words.
Watch your words, because they are turning to actions.
Watch your actions, because they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become your character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny. (Chinese proverb)
The heart is the seat of our deepest inner being, emotions, personality and will. The Bible mentions several times how important it is to protect, keep our hearts clean. Our current state of mind is reflected in our hearts, what we think, what we feel, what we want.
“How are you?” – “How are you feeling?” Are questions that we often hear, but mostly superficially answer with “Fine, thank you!” But how are we really doing? Are we sad, angry, anxious, angry, offended, happy, tired, excited, relaxed, calm, etc., or are we currently in a chaos of emotions, an emotional alternation?
What thoughts are we dealing with? What do we think about ourselves, about our fellow human beings, about our situations and circumstances?
Is what we think and feel consistent with the truth? Can we always trust our thoughts and feelings?
God created us with feelings and they also have important tasks. Feelings make us alive, create closeness to our fellow human beings by empathizing and empathizing with others, they can motivate and inspire us and let us feel alife. In addition to positive feelings, there are also negative feelings that can drain, depress and depress us. It can happen that we feel depressed and weak and often don’t really know why. It is therefore important to pay attention to our thoughts and feelings, as these affect our lives. Negative feelings arise from negative or wrong thoughts that we have previously let into our hearts. Therefore it does not help to suppress them, it is better to accept these feelings and to observe which sources they have.
Last week I wrote about how we become a new person through Christ, acquire a new identity. If we accept His love, we become children of God and the Holy Spirit dwells in us. As children of God, we no longer need to let our feelings determine us, but we are guided by the Holy Spirit and live by faith.
God’s Word is truer than all my feelings.
God’s Word is truer than all my experiences.
God’s Word is truer than any living conditions I may get into.
God’s Word is truer than anything in the world.
Because our feelings can deceive and mislead us. They are volatile, changeable, they come and go. Our feelings are often not true. Feelings are not a good guide. They depend on many factors and external circumstances. The weather, poor nutrition, too little sleep, the behavior of other people can influence our emotional state. We can also be trapped in life lies that we believe. So we have to choose to do the right thing no matter how we feel.
Jesus also had feelings. He was angry when the merchants gathered in the temple and made his prayer house a robber’s cave. He was angry when he spoke to the Pharisees and scribes who lived in law. He was sad when his friend Lazarus died and disappointed with the unbelief of his successors. When his pioneer John the Baptist was beheaded, it hit Jesus in the heart. In the garden of Gethsemane, shortly before his crucifixion, Jesus was afraid and grieved to death. We can only guess how Jesus must have felt when he was slandered by Peter and betrayed by Judas. In all of this, he always looked at his Heavenly Father and enjoyed communion with God. Early in the morning, he went up the mountain alone to pray. When the Holy Spirit filled Jesus, he was joyful. He exulted in the spirit. He found joy in the presence of God. He enjoyed serving people and fulfilling his mission.
If Jesus had always relied on his feeling, he would not have been able to carry out God’s plan, but since he was guided by the Spirit of God and looked at the will of the Father, he could make the right decisions.
“Father, if you want, take this cup from me; but not mine, but your will be done! ”Luke 22:42
We feel best when our thoughts agree with God’s will, when we test our thoughts against the Word of God.
“But if he comes, the spirit of truth, he will lead you into all the truth” John 16:13
“The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, kindness, faith, meekness, chastity”
The Holy Spirit gives faith and heals the emotional world. We are happy about things that make God happy and we are sad about everything that makes God sad.
Contrary to our feelings, God’s Word is constant. We can always rely on that.
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
“… but the word of the Lord remains forever.” Matthew 24:35
“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God remains forever.” Isaiah 40: 8
God’s truth never changes. We can choose to speak God’s thoughts about our life, our fellow human beings and our circumstances and to believe and trust His promises more than our feelings.
“For I know well what thoughts I have about you, saith the Lord: thoughts of peace and not of suffering that I may give you future and hope.”
We can allow our thoughts and feelings, identify them, bring them to God and live them out according to his will. God knows our heart and every thought.
“Explore me, God, and recognize my heart, test me and recognize my thoughts.
Show me if I am going wrong and lead me to eternal life. ”Psalm 139: 23-24
“Your instructions are my darling, they fill my heart with joy. I am determined to keep your orders until the end of my life. ”Psalm 119,111-112
“You should take your old life off like old clothes. Do not follow your passions that mislead you and destroy you. Let yourself change in your thinking and realign yourself internally. Attracts new life as you put on new clothes. You have now become new people, whom God himself created in his image. Let everyone know that you now belong to God and live the way you like it ”Ephesians 4: 22-24
Faith is not a feeling, but a decision.
“But faith is a firm confidence in what one hopes and no doubting in what one does not see” Hebrews 11: 1
We don’t have to follow our feelings, our feelings have to follow our beliefs.
Rely on the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your understanding, but remember him in all your ways, he will guide you properly. ”Proverbs 3: 5-6
“And the peace of God, which goes beyond all understanding, will keep your heart and your thoughts in Christ Jesus!” Philippians 4: 7
