Self-Respect vs. Feelings

Self-Respect vs. Feelings

We live in a society now where too many think the opposite. This is the primary reason why the world is so messed up. I've been that type of person who catered to feelings over self-respect and it was a miserable existence. I kidded myself into thinking I was happy and free.

Nothing could have been further from the truth. I was a prisoner, caught in a web of lies that were told to me by the trends of the world and all who follow that. It wasn't until a certain encounter with the Holy Spirit in 2008 that I finally started to see through the veils of deceit that clouded my judgment.

When it's stated in the Holy Bible that the whole world is deceived, that's 100% true. Part of that deception has been promoted by political and social movements that pretend to be something they're not.

They pretend to care about the world and its people. This isn't true. They care more about themselves and self-serving agendas than have anything to do with helping humanity.

Certain communities cry they favor love and acceptance and yet all they do is hate. They're among the most violent members of the human race as they continue to demonstrate how childish they really are. Those people have been led to believe acting out on raw feelings is the ticket to freedom. Again, this isn't true.

People behave like nuclear reactors. The moment they encounter something there is a reaction. Most don't think and just embrace the moment and act. This lack of discernment always leads to disaster. Sometimes that disaster comes quick and sometimes it seems to linger - but it always comes, sooner or later.

Among the few who take a moment to practice discernment, these are the people who usually prevail against what sometimes seem like impossible odds. Instead of blindly catering to feelings, they consult with what their gut is really telling them. Yes, the gut is also considered a feeling but this is a different entity than the heart and mind.

On average, a person's mind is too childish to see anything beyond the surface. This leads to the heart reacting to whatever the mind sees. Another body part that reacts is the gut. The difference between the feelings the heart and gut have is the heart behaves like a child, just like the mind does.

The gut, however, is different. It is considerably more mature. Sadly, most people don't take the time to listen to that. They just go with whatever their heart and minds have to say. These were the mistakes Adam and Eve made while in the Garden of Eden. These are mistakes that are continually made by people who lack discernment and patience. Because of this, they're always running full throttle in a direction that leads to their destruction.

Often overshadowed by the heart and mind, the gut serves as a person's survival mechanism that knows how to properly react to any given situation. Among the few who listen to that gut, they're able to avoid making the childish mistakes so many people in this world continually make.

The "gut feeling" is really the Holy Spirit sending a message. Among people who've honestly been saved by Jesus Christ as a born-again, spirit-filled individual, they recognize this. This is the ticket to self-respect. It's also the one and only ticket to true freedom.

No self-respecting individual will ever embrace the trends of this world. They prefer "old-fashioned" Jesus and God's Word instead. Unlike the world, Jesus doesn't cater to the instability of raw feelings. Proof of that has been made clear, many times over, in the gospel.

This doesn't mean Jesus was unfeeling. Quite the contrary. However, instead of acting like a childish buffoon who only listened to the heart and mind, he always consulted with the Holy Spirit. This is what made him so enigmatic while he roamed the earth along with his disciples. Because of this, the world and those who favored it and the trends hated him so much.

Isn't it interesting that people who've become lovers of themselves and follow global trends have such hate against Christians, Jesus, families, and patriots? This is where one can see the difference between the childish who favor raw emotions and the discerning who prefer to hear what their gut has to say. Even among those who don't classify themselves as Christians who show genuine maturity have an advantage over so-called Christians who don't.
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