OK, Benefit cosmetics has finally introduced the ultimate facial balm to equalize the many factors affecting our decision making skills. If you are facing a serious dilemma, head to your favorite up-scale stuff mart and pick up some Dr. Feelgood face balm. It's the ticket for those of us who rely on perceived feel-good techniques to settle important matters.
I kid you not, Barna and other demographers continue to report perplexing statistics when they measure our decision making abilities. At crunch time, when pressed for a final answer, most Americans do what feels good to them. Put into code language, they do what seems right to them at the time. It's a gut call, they say, a reliance on deeper instincts to nudge us in the right direction. You know, do the right thing! Call on Dr. Feelgood to settle troubling issues of life. You got to be kidding me!
Feelings, that is emotions, are the controlling dynamics of the new relativism. Of course, there's not a thing in this world wrong with feeling good. Shoot, I'd rather enter every single day without a headache than with one, look at every single event with the vision of an eagle rather than a snake, and run with the young bucks rather than limp with the infirm. Feeling bad is not the deal, or the issue.
At issue is our dependence on emotions for life, a reliance on fragile, shifting feelings for the important relationships and realities so crucial to our life satisfaction. Tragically many people have inserted these same sentiments into their A-list of primary evaluative criteria. Happiness is suddenly a major life-ambition. If you aren't happy all the time, well, you're just a failure at life. No wonder so many people are lost in the woulds these days! They cannot navigate the swift, treacherous waters with a rudder made of Jello, emotions controlling your trip through the rapids.
That's the point. Decision making cannot depend on rising-falling emotional crests. So, there must be truth. Granted, it doesn't always feel so good, but it is always true, and will always provide the right guidance in all things. In fact, truth will protect us from the peaks and valleys of emotional reactions. Absolute truth, in the person of Jesus Christ and the words about him in Scripture enables constant joy and peace in people who are dealing with surging or waning impulses.
Emotions are real enough---anger, depression, sadness, elation, grief, excitement, disappointment, anxiety, impatience---a whole list of things that touch our lives in many ways. As, strong as they are, however, they cannot make for good choices. You can pay the big bucks for Dr. Feelgood face balm, and it may soothe your skin and give relief to the strain showing on your face.
It won't give you joy or peace for a lifetime, though. And, it won't help you make better decisions for life. Jesus said, "...my peace I give to you"(John 14:27). Now, there's some truth to take with you on the journey, the promise of something lasting for the road ahead, his provision to calm the restless waters of this life, and help us make good decisions beyond what feels good or right.
"...the truth will set you free...:. Amen. Free from the error of emotions on the loose.
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