From faith to feelings

Scriptural Readings: John 20:24-29

Feelings are attached to our lives. It is a part of us. We cannot be detached from them. The problem is sometimes we are too dependent on them or in some cases we juggle our faith with our feelings. This should not be the case. We should put into our whole being that we should live by faith and not by sight.

King James Version

John 20:24-29

²⁴ But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.

²⁵ The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.

²⁶ And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.

²⁷ Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.

²⁸ And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

²⁹ Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

Some of the questions that we always ask ourselves is “How do we see our faith?” or “Are we feeling strong with our faith?” and a list of course will go on.

and be not faithless, but believing.

be not faithless,

The Lord Jesus commanded Thomas that he should not lose his faith. The word faithless in Greek is “apistos” from a – a 1 (as a negative particle) and “pistos” a word coming from “peitho” a primary verb meaning to convince (by argument, true or false). Thomas is juggling between faith and feelings.

but believing.

The word believing on the other hand also came from the word “peitho” but this time it was used with this meaning to rely (by inward certainty) or simply obey.

It is very clear that the Lord Jesus was telling us that faith should be in Him and is a necessity for us. He used the same words with different meaning but the bottom line is they are both commandments. We should get rid of this faithlessness and obey Him(believing only in Him).

And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

When Jesus asked(commanded) Thomas to put his hands on His wounds the(feeling of)faithlessness disappeared. Now Thomas was taken out from his feeling of doubt instead of having faith in the first hand. This is now faith to feelings. This is exactly what Jesus is telling us from the very beginning, to have faith first and fully trusting in Him.

Though faith is something that we cannot feel and sometimes we doubt, should always be a mindset for us. We should focus our whole being(spirit, soul and body) on faith and stand on it firmly. This is the only way the Holy Spirit can commune with us, comfort and instruct us.

We might be playing with our feelings but we should not risk our faith the way we feel things. We can be right or wrong with our feelings but we cannot afford to be wrong with our faith. Faith is something that has to be dealt completely with all seriousness. This is the reason why we choose the wrong path. We should not put feelings before faith. It has to be from faith to feelings.

Our Father in heaven, we are weak. We need strength in our spiritual lives. The only thing that we can be strong is to have a stronger faith in Jesus in our lives and the power of the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, strengthen us. Let your power cover our whole spirit, soul and body. In the mighty name of our Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.