“Trust your feelings.”

That is how a well-intentioned Christian recently advised someone.    

This individual was encouraging this college-aged adult to feel and not think. Yet, the only thing that kept running through my mind was Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” 

Because of my distant relationship with the person and a firm belief that most Facebook “confrontations” are fruitless, I scrolled by the original post.  Still, I can’t seem to shake the foolishness of the comment. 

God created us with feelings, and they are powerful tools, but they are only one weapon in a whole arsenal.  We are to seek God’s word and His will first.  Then we should pray and ask for guidance.  This includes looking for open and closed doors to move forward.  Next, we should ask mature Christians what they think.  Then we should search into facts and do our due diligence.  Only at the end of our search should we ask, “How do you feel about this?” This is because our heart is easily manipulated and deceived.  Sometimes our feelings betray us, and our emotions can be just plain wrong. 

As believers, we must be keenly aware of the mistake of trusting our feelings.  It is bad advice no matter who gives it to you.  Trust the Lord.  Then move forward from there.