Battling "my truth" with God's TRUTH
My Dad always taught me that my feelings were valid. They were, in fact, what I was feeling. However, he cautioned me to never be led by my feelings. He taught me to take a breath. Silently sit within them, and think through them. He taught me to take the time I needed to shift from my desire to react to consider the situation (mine or the other person’s), my disposition, and any other contributing factors that may or may not have anything to do with my current state. My Dad taught me to search outside of myself—and all that I was feeling—so that I could do my best to unearth the truth. He repeated over and over again that the gift of a life led by the truth was peace.
The funny thing, my feelings for my Dad were such a stumbling block to the decision to surrender my life to the truth. The truth of who Jesus is, how desperately I needed him, and all that He did for me on the Cross. (I was raised Jewish, but that is another story for another time).
We find ourselves in a time—in a culture —that is feelings led. People have strong feelings about all sorts of things, no doubt. And, before I dig this hole any deeper: it is important to remember: feelings are valid.
BUT how a person feels does not make it the truth.
What our current feelings led culture has produced is the too oft stated phrase: “my truth.” I can hear my Dad, rolling his eyes and scoffing: “Your truth? You must mean your opinion.” The problem with the belief that our opinions are in fact individualized truths are many. If each of us chooses to cling to our “own truth” and be led solely by our feelings, then we will find ourselves—well, exactly, where we are: living in a time where more and more of us are being consumed by anger, distrust, weaponized accusations, emotional frailty, and discord (there is a softness, a flexibility, about an opinion that becomes harshly rigid if viewed as a truth).
The belief that we each can have our own truth (that how we feel becomes the truth) is the decision to build our lives on that which is fleeting and about as stable as shifting sand. Choosing to be led by our feelings, is not a sign that we are “evolving” as a person. Rather, if everyone clings to their own truth, then society devolves into tribalism. Eventually, the small tribe we at first identify with continues to devolve. Eventually, we find ourselves in a tribe of one. Why? Because how we feel is as unique as our fingerprint. Being feelings led will never allow us to feel fully aligned with anyone. Rather, it produces a spirit of selfishness and self-righteousness. The insidiousness of “my truth”: at first it feels like a security blanket and then feels like a virtuous platform, inevitably—often when it is too late—we discover: clinging to our feelings-led truth has sentenced us to a lifetime in solitary confinement (the enemy, the king of lies, loves to steal our identity and isolate us).
Our growing inability to set how we feel aside—to resist the temptation to react rather than think and consider—has caused us to elevate feelings above truth. Feelings are leading us down a path of destruction. And, we see its cost everywhere. Not just within our homes (crumbling marriages and toxic family relationships), but in every aspect of our world. As a parent, I see it devouring a generation of young people who seem ill-equipped to cope with the vast majority of circumstances and who are becoming increasingly paralyzed by anxiety. A generation so rigidly clinging to their truth that they no longer can see the TRUTH.
My Dad, not surprisingly, was right: a truth led life, one built on solid rock, is marked by peace; one where you are led by humility, seek understanding, and are empowered to disagree—when opinions and feelings simply won’t align—with love.
When I surrendered my old self to Jesus, I developed a passion for God’s Word and discovered within the pages of the Bible the power of God’s infallible and inerrant TRUTH. I learned that a life led by God’s truth not only produces a life of peace, but:
“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32
I learned there is not “my truth” (an enemy lie that creates a “crooked and twisted generation”) but only HIS TRUTH. And, I do my human best to cling to His truth. I discover over and over again that when you “hold fast to the word of life” you “shine as a light’” and you don’t “run or labor in vain.” (Phil 2)
I cling to HIS TRUTH because rather than producing a spirit of selfishness and self-righteousness, it produces:
“endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Romans 5).
I cling to HIS TRUTH because it arms me against the temptation to be led by my feelings and live my life reacting rather than loving others as Christ loves me. I take a breath. I sit with God and through His infallible and inerrant Word, I am empowered to surrender my feelings and strengthened to turn from self (and the world) to allow the Spirit to expose “my truth” and, once again, convict me to God’s truth:
“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” 2 Peter 1:3-4
The virus of “my truth” is beginning to spread more rapidly within the church. Through a “crooked and twisted” worldview of love, more and more within the church (many in positions of influence) are calling for the Bible to bend to the current culture; to make it more culturally relevant (The last gasp of the enemy is to move us from “my truth” —which dilutes and distorts truth—to a belief that there simply is “no truth.”). Those is the church that call for the Bible to reflect the way culture currently feels about issues, ignore the truth. The Bible, God’s infallible and inerrant Word, is relevant in every age because.
God’s Word is LIVING.
They ignore that the power of the Word is its divine ability to speak into our lives and meet us exactly where we find ourselves in time. But, unlike the echo chamber of current culture’s opinions (feelings), which at first feel relevant (and often makes us feel better about ourselves), God’s Word convicts, refines, and equips. It lifts us out of our narrow perspective and limited understanding. It lifts us out of our feelings and points us to His eternal goodness.
The Word is a constant reminder:
we are each made in God’s image
we were made to know Him and He desires to KNOW us
we desperately need the saving grace of Jesus Christ
Through Christ, the world is overcome
Trust that God never ignores or invalidates how His children feel. His ear is always inclined. He wants you to bring every feeling you have to Him and to lay your burdens down at the foot of the Cross. But, His desire is not to make you feel better (although running to Him will always make you feel better). His desire is to empower you to become better; to transform you into Christ-likeness and Christ-mindedness. His desire is to take the destructive ashes of “my truth” and exchange it for His:
“goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.”
2 Peter 1:5-7
A life that seeks, clings, and is led by God’s Truth is one that is marked by His perfecting love.