Emotions are real and often powerful, but they cannot be our final authority. Learn how to honor your feelings while still standing firmly on God’s unchanging truth.
When Emotions Try to Lead
Feelings are part of being human. God created us with emotion as a reflection of His own heart. There isn’t any flaws in His design. Every molecule was carefully crafted with specific intention. Joy, sadness, anger, compassion, longing—none of these are accidental. They actually color our days and help us connect to one another.
Yet feelings were never meant to be the steering wheel of the soul.
Most of us have discovered how quickly emotions can shift. Just like sand blown about by the wind. Morning peace turns into afternoon irritation. Confidence becomes doubt after one difficult conversation. Something small happens and suddenly the whole day feels heavier than it did before. The circumstances may not have changed much, but our hearts sure did.
When we treat those emotions as the truest thing about reality, confusion and unrest always follows. A lonely day can whisper, “No one cares about you.” A setback can say, “You will always fail.” Anxiety insists, “It will never get better.” Not a single one of those statements are from God, but they sound convincing in the moment because emotions speak with the volume blasting full force.
Having emotion and feeling something deeply isn’t the problem. Those muddy waters only happen when we let shifting emotions claim authority that belongs solely to God’s Word.
The Weight We Put on Our Feelings
There is a quiet cultural message that says, “If you feel it, it must be who you are,” or “If it feels right, it must be right.” That sounds empowering at first, until we remember how often our emotions contradict each other. One day we want one thing, the next day we want the exact opposite. Which feeling is the “real” one then?
Even Scripture shows us people who felt deeply and still needed correction. Elijah felt alone but wasn’t. Jonah felt angry at God’s mercy, even though God was right. David felt forgotten and later realized God had been faithful all along.
Your emotions tell you how something feels. However, they don’t always tell you what is true.
There’s no shame in emotion. We simply need to refuse to let it be the highest voice in our lives.
Truth That Grounds Us Again
Psalm 119 reminds us:
“The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.” — Psalm 119:160 (ESV)
God’s truth endures when our emotions swing in every direction. That’s why Scripture can correct us gently without diminishing what we feel. God isn’t asking you to ignore your heart. He’s quietly inviting you to bring your heart into alignment with what is real.
This is the heartbeat of TRUTH — The Right Understanding To Honor. We honor God when we trust what He has said, even on days when our emotions argue against it. Then, we honor ourselves when we refuse to let feelings define our identity or our future.
Learning to Feel and Still Follow Truth
Maturity in Christ doesn’t mean you have less feelings. You’ve simply learned over time how to respond when your emotions and God’s Word disagree.
That might look like this:
You feel abandoned, but you read, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). Feelings of worthlessness invade, but you read that you were “bought with a price” (1 Corinthians 6:20). You are priceless. You feel judged or condemned, but you read, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).
Both the feeling and the Scripture exist at the same time. The question becomes which one will lead you. Which one will you allow to control your thoughts and your actions?
God invites you to say, “This is honestly how I feel, but this is what I know is true.” Rest in that for a moment. That posture doesn’t dismiss emotion. And it doesn’t encourage you to lie about how you’re feeling. It simply places truth back in the seat of authority where it belongs.
The Rooted Reflection
Maybe today your emotions feel unpredictable or overwhelming. They might even be so loud, they’re drowning out everything else around you. Don’t fret. That doesn’t make you weak or unspiritual. It just makes you human. Jesus Himself wept, rejoiced, grew weary, and felt deep compassion. Emotion wasn’t foreign to Him at all.
But the one thing Jesus did consistently? He always aligned His heart with the Father’s will and the Father’s Word. That’s our model as well.
Let January be the month you practice this simple habit. Acknowledge your feelings, but then anchor them in truth. Tell God exactly what is in your heart, then ask Him to tell you what is real.
Your emotions do matter, but they’re not the final authority. God’s truth is.
