People are entitled to their feelings, but sometimes the devil uses these feelings to get people's lives out of balance. Christian author and mobile app maker Kyle Winkler says feelings have their place, and people must learn how to master them.
"God created us to feel and to experience. He wants us to feel when things are pleasant and good. He designed us to enjoy the beauty, sounds and tastes of His creation, and to intimately know the thrills of relationship," he writes in an article for Charisma News. "Feelings also protect us. They keep us from severe burns or eating something deadly. And frequently, the Holy Spirit will use our feelings for discernment of right and wrong."
But on the flip side, Winkler says the devil uses people's emotions to steer them towards the wrong direction. This is when dysfunction begins to control people's lives and relationships, and people start asking: "Can I really trust God?"
"This is how the issues of fear, anxiety, worry, stress or loneliness all begin to creep in. The temptation then is to find the solution in a person, object or a substance. And when those don't work, the vicious cycle continues," he says.
The good news is that God did not leave people powerless to control their feelings. Christians must always be reminded that God's Word is always more real than what they feel, whatever others have said about them, as well as their circumstances and situations.
"God's Word is your ultimate reality. Anything that disagrees with it is false," says Winkler. "Remember that as a Christian, you have the Holy Spirit and all that comes with Him—each and every fruit. This means that you already have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23)."
The sooner people put their feelings back in place, the sooner they take back their lives, Winkler assures.
