Actions vs Feelings

Welcome to Insights with Pastor John.

I'm Pastor John Moore and I'd like to

welcome you to this week's edition of

Insights. Let's pray. Heavenly Father,

we thank you and praise you for this

opportunity to take a look at your word.

Lord, help us to understand it, to apply

it, and to not only hear it, but to

allow it to manifest itself in our

heart. We give you all the praise and

all the glory in Jesus name. Amen. So

the subject this week is actions

versus feelings.

And you know uh you hear all the time

from the world u follow your heart do

what your heart tells you u if it feels

right if it feels good you know you're

doing the right thing. And Jesus Jesus

said that the heart is deceitful because

out of it comes both blessings and

cursings.

And so as I was looking into God's word

about this message that one of the

things that I realized was

actions

that are based on God's word are not

based on how you feel, but they're based

on what he said.

And it's a it's a hard thing for us

because a lot of people um they they

live their life based on how they feel.

And Jesus set the example for us

in

his

words were backed up by his actions, not

how he felt.

And uh I think uh 1 John 4:19 perfectly

says this. We love him because he first

loved us. And when you look at Jesus's

life, and that's what we're supposed to

base our lives on is to live our lives

the way he lived his.

Jesus loved us first.

Uh John 3:16 is a focal point for all

believers.

um all born again believers. It says,

"For God so loved the world that he gave

his only begotten son that whosoever

should believeth in him should not

perish but have everlasting life." It's

25 words, but they're the most profound

25 words there are.

And when you look at it, the first thing

that you realize is God loved us first.

That's the very first thing that Jesus

says in that in that verse. For God so

loved the world

that he gave his only begotten son that

whosoever should believeth in him should

not perish but have everlasting life.

God

extended his love to us.

Even though our love for him was based

on feeling, God based his love on the

fact that we are his creation and he

wanted to save us

from our own uh sinful nature. And so

Jesus, he not only came and expressed

that love and shared that love, but then

he showed us what love ultimately is.

And what love ultimately is is that

you're willing to sacrifice for others.

And you know, uh, 1 Corinthians 13, it's

always referred to as the love chapter,

um,

because it it shows us by Christ's act

what love actually is. And so, we're

going to take a look at that.

And I and I really want you to try and

understand this that

we have to love as he loved. And to do

that, it can't be based on feeling. It

has to be based on the action of loving.

And starting verse four, listen to this.

He says, "Charity suffereth long and is

kind." I'm reading out the King James

version. So the word charity here means

love. Charity envieth not. Charity

vonneth not itself. Is not puffed up. It

does not behave itself unseemly. It

seeketh not. Is not easily provoked. It

thinkketh no evil. Rejoices not in

iniquity, but rejoice in the truth.

Beareth all things, believeth all

things, hope all things, endureth all

things. Charity never faileth. But

whether there be prophecies, they shall

foul. Whether there be tongues, they

shall cease. Whether there be knowledge,

it shall vanish away. For we know in

part and we prophesy in part. But when

that which is perfect is come, then that

which is in part shall be done away. And

as you're sitting there looking at this

and you begin to allow the Holy Spirit

to open up God's worst word to you, the

first thing that you see about love is

love suffers long.

Um,

in other words, it endures

hard times

and is kind.

I've made this statement many times and

it's a true statement. There's a big

difference between being kind and being

nice.

Being kind is based on love and truth.

Being nice is based on feelings. I'm

going to be nice because I don't want to

hurt your feelings.

Um,

and there are times and places where

kindness is not saying anything at all.

But it's never about saying something

based on how somebody may or may not

feel. The truth will set you free.

Always. It hurts.

A lot of times somebody tells you the

truth and you don't want to hear it and

it's painful, but it's necessary. And

the big thing about truth is

it will set you free.

Uh Jesus said, "He whom the son has set

free shall be free indeed." He said,

"The truth shall set you free." He said,

"I'm the way, the truth, and the life,

and uh no man cometh unto the father but

by me." So it's not about feeling.

Anytime you come into the presence of

God, there is an emotional reaction.

um you you are physically and mentally

responding to the presence of God,

but it's an act of worship that creates

that.

Then he goes on to that and he says,

"Charity envth not." In other words, I'm

not seeking what you have. I don't envy

what you have. I'm going to do what you

do to have the same kind of relationship

that you have. I don't envy you. I I

applaud you for your dedication and

service to God.

It's a charity vonneth not itself is not

puffed up. Have you ever met somebody

who does things simply because they want

to

impress you? That's not love.

That's ego.

Love is just the opposite. I do things

because you need

help. I do things because I love you as

Christ loves you.

It says it does not behave itself

unseemly and follows that up with

seeketh not own unseemly. How is

unseammly? I'm doing things because it

makes me look good. I'm doing things

because I want you to give me praise.

that's unseemly and it's seeking its

own. It's not easily provoked and it

thinks no evil. Love doesn't respond in

anger.

Uh you see couples, people in business

partnerships, relationships, and

different things of that nature. And

there's always the idea that well I I'll

do this for you, but you have to

reciprocate and kind. That's not love.

Love is not seeking after its own.

Loving is me doing the very best I can

do for you

regardless of what it does for me.

It doesn't rejoice in iniquity. It

rejoices in the truth.

uh when you're facing people that they

are not as committed uh to Christ as

they could be and they allow things into

their lives that are literally going to

take them away from their their

relationship with Christ and but because

they seem to be so successful, people

will look away and say, "Well, you know,

they're they they've got some problems,

but you know, look at how they're being

blessed. Well, we need to be real. And

I'm not saying be judgmental. We don't

need to be jum judgmental. We need to be

real. And being real is

sharing the truth with someone

and encouraging them to become better

than they are.

It bears all things. It believes all

things. It hopes all things. And endures

in all things.

If you really want to look at the true

meaning of how love works, you want to

go into um Galatians chapter 5 and take

a look at the fruit of the spirit.

And we're gonna flip over there right

now

because I want to read it to you

so that you and I both have a better

understanding of

that demonstration, that action

versus feelings. And it's important

because if we base everything we do on

how we feel, we're never going to

actually get into a place of victory in

Christ.

And so in Galatians chapter 5

verse 22,

listen to what Paul says. He says, "But

the fruit of the spirit is love." That's

the very first thing. Joy, peace,

longsuffering, gentleness, goodness,

faith, meekness, temperance. Against

such there is no law.

If you're truly

defining the actions in your life

by what God's word says, then the things

that you should be seeking is to develop

the fruit of the spirit in your life.

Love, joy, peace, longsuffering,

gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness,

temperance. These things

uh cause you to be stable.

James said, "A double-binded man is

unstable in all his ways. He's tossed to

and fro by every wind of doctrine."

And um that's because you're looking at

a person who bases their relationship on

God with how they feel,

not on

what God's word says.

Um

it's important that we learn how to be

solid, that we learn to be consistent,

that we learn how to treat everybody the

same regardless of the situation they're

in or what their life circumstances are

so that we together

can go forward

and show them a better way. It's not

about how good you look to other people.

It's how you treat them. It's an action.

And everything in our life has to be

based around the types of actions we

take with other people. If you want

people to

listen to what you have to say, they

need to have confidence that the things

you're going to tell them

are important.

And not important as in this is going to

make you richer, this is going to make

you more famous, this is going to make

you uh social status. It's about things

that are eternal.

Jesus talked about it a lot. He talked

about laying up treasures in heaven.

Well, we need to be doing that. And how

do you do that? By reaching people with

the message of Jesus Christ, which is

you're in you are broken. You're living

in a broken world. But I can show you a

better way. And the way that I show you

also is going to help you lay up

treasures in heaven for the future.

And it's important that we get our focus

correct and we learn how to act and not

react. That's what it means by actions

versus feelings.

If you react,

you're just responding in kind. And what

I mean by that is you're you're having a

conversation with someone and they get

upset and they get angry

and you're you respond emotionally to

them.

they're having an emotional breakdown

and rather than you looking at it and

saying there's a better way, let me be a

peacemaker,

uh

you respond to their emotional outburst

with the same kind of emotional

outburst. And that

is not what Jesus said to do when some

he said if this is a hard one. If your

brother smites you on one cheek, turn

and give him the other one. And so when

we act as opposed to react, somebody's

angry. They're doing something that is,

you know, you can tell they're

frustrated, they're angry, they're

they're lashing out. And when they do

that and you turn and you respond to

them with love and with kindness, uh

Solomon said, "A kind word turneth away

wrath." You want to disarm somebody

who's angry? Be kind.

Say to them through your actions and

your words, "Jesus loves you and I do

too. Jesus loves you and has a wonderful

plan for your life." When you do that,

you disarm them. All of a sudden, they

don't know how to act because you have

set things in order according to God's

word. If I respond to you with the

actions Christ says I should,

I I remove the anger and the argument

from you. You don't know what what do I

do next? They're not responding. I got

mad. I yelled at them. I cussed them

out. I I called them despicable things.

And they turned around and they showed

me love and compassion

and shared with me uh their faith.

I say this a lot to a lot of people.

The greatest tool that you have to win

souls for Christ is your testimony.

It goes ahead of you if and it paves the

way for you to talk to people when

you're going through life and tough

times come and hard things happen and uh

things of that nature happen and you

respond

to what's going on around you

from God's point of view.

People begin to notice

and they want to know why are you

different? why do you do things the way

you do? And that opens the door for an

opportunity for you to share with them

the love of Christ and to open God's

word to them that they too can receive

Christ into their life and they can move

forward into a place of praise and

worship and love. And so I want to

encourage you,

learn how to act and not react. learned

that it's better to use actions than

emotions. And that doesn't mean you're

supposed to be Mr. Spock from Star Trek

and and a a logical emotionless

being. It means you don't respond to

people in the way that they approach

you. You respond to them in the way that

God's word says to respond to them. It's

not easy.

It can be very difficult because there

are very difficult people in this world.

But the most important thing that I can

share with you and tell you today is

this.

If you can learn to develop the fruits

of the spirit in your life, you're going

to walk into a place of praise and

worship like you've never been in before

because you have the ability to enter

into God's presence at any time

and commune with God. And that's what he

wants. He wants a personal intimate

relationship with you. And he wants you

to present that relationship to other

people so that they too can enter into

that relationship. So I want to leave

that with you this week. I want you to

remember it's your actions, not your

reactions.

It's your actions, not your emotions.

It's your actions based on what God's

word says.

Not on how you feel, not on how you

think, but on what God's word says.

So, I'll leave that with you this week.

Let's have a great week. I want I hope

that God's ministered to you with this

message. I hope that you begin to see

that there is a better way. And you know

what? More than anything, Jesus loves

you and I do, too. We'll see you next

week. Thanks.