God Changes How We Feel - One Year of Dinner Table Devotions and Discussion Starters

God Changes How We Feel

I want you to understand this mystery, dear brothers and sisters, so that you will not feel proud about yourselves.

Romans 11:25

The kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation.

2 Corinthians 7:10

Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings.

1 John 3:20

Is it right or wrong to sneeze? That might seem like a ridiculous question. Sneezing is just something we do that isn’t right or wrong. And that’s how some people view feelings—not really right or wrong—they just are what they are, and we can’t help them.

But the Holy Spirit doesn’t just cause us to act and think differently. He causes us to feel differently. He changes how we think about him and therefore how we feel about him and about our circumstances. The clearer our view of God and his provision becomes, the more our feelings are centered in joy and peace. And while negative emotions that threaten our joy may never completely disappear, they lose their total power over us. We are no longer at their mercy.

When we feel afraid and forgotten, we hear God say, “I am with you.” And we begin to believe he is by our side when we’re in the operating room, at the graveside, in the courtroom, in our aching loneliness. We feel peaceful in his presence. When we feel angry, instead of making demands, we remind ourselves that all our deepest needs are met in Christ and that we can trust him to protect and defend us. Anger gives way to rest. When we feel jealous, instead of nurturing our thoughts of resentment that God has not given us what he has given to someone else, we look at all God has given to us in Jesus, and gratitude begins to blossom where jealousy threatened to control us. And we realize it’s true: God is greater than our feelings.

DISCUSSION STARTERS

Can you decide to sneeze or not sneeze? Can you decide to be happy?

How does God change our feelings of anger or sadness?

What is the secret to not letting your feelings control your life?