Staying True to Self?

Thoughts and feelings are connected, but I suspect that the thought comes first and then the feeling is evoked by the thought.

Thoughts can come from so many sources that it is really hard to discern the source of the thoughts and be able to recognsie what is in line with the truth of who I am (who I am at my core).

Discernment is the process for doing this sorting.


I recognise that the language and thought model I am using here may not be the one we often hear in church, but it is well founded in the ancient traditions of 4th and 5th century Christianity.

I am concerned about the use of language here , which I think may be misleading or confusing.

For me the heart is the true centre of the persona , and is where the person whom God created resides. I do not always live out of my true heart, because I am a habitual sinner and have also learnt that who I really am is not good enough for my parents, my friends, and most other people.

So I build a false self which is more acceptable and I live from that persona since this persona is mmore acceptable to the world. eventually I come to think that my fale self is my true self, and I fall into a sleeping beauty/Cinderella type of sleep. The Charming Princess sees the true me, which I do not see and awakes me from my sleep. I do not arise immediately in my glory, but only gradually am I enable to inhabit that glory (which was mine right from the beginning of time).

(Sorry I got caught up in the allusion as I was writing).

and if you listened closely, your heart would probably tell you not to believe your feelings( when they will only last temporary)

"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life" Pro 4:23
Gee, are we just supposed to guard it but not live by it ?

WAY OFF BASE BABY.......gym

Jenefer, your illustration using the person who stands up and screams obscenities is also weak. Out of the hundreds of people I know or that I interact with on the net that are working on following their heart; I DON'T KNOW ANYONE WHO DOES THIS. So I submit that your example is of someone who is four standard deviations below the norm of self control.
I agree that we need to NOT FEED impure thoughts, desires, etc. But to automatically throw out or disregard feelings because some of them are bad is the equivalent of some guy wanting to be pure and never being in the presence of a woman, because a few women are prostitutes and he doesn't want to take the chance of being in the room with "one of those."
You are correct, feelings need to be managed, like everything else in life that God gives us control of.
Again, I like your writing style, just disagree with some of your content here. Kyle

I think I understand where she is coming from, but her illustrations leave me a bit cold. They do this because they smack of strawmen and my debate and speech coach told me to avoid strawmen because they are easy to knock down.
So let's look at the strawmen. (not in order, going from memory.)
First. Susan Smith. Susan Smith was so depressed she was psychotic.(and yes I am a counselor in real life and have been for 15 years as well as a lifecoach.) Susan Smith followed a reality that her DEMENTED PSYCHOTIC mind told her was reality. This is honestly a flat out silly illustration of the "feelings cause bad things to happen." (Oh Depression isn't a feeling, it's a mood; and the mood underlies feelings and is much deeper and durable and it is typically, though not always, much harder to change.)

I guess I'm about out of characters, so I'll have to quit.
Jenefer, your foundational thought is weak, unformed and illogical. You writing style is excellent. Kyle

There are passages in the bible that can easily be construed as conflicting,if you do not take them into the context in which they are written. The short version, is that when you are saved, you are given a new heart. Your heart of stone is removed, and you are given an opportunity to start fresh. Granted, it is necessary to INTERPRET the desires of your heart, and it is intended for you to SHARE those desires with your Lord, in conversation, relationship, prayer, and faith. You don't give a 7 year old a chainsaw because he thinks that is what his heart wants. INTERPRET, his heart is masculine, he wants to be a MAN, he wants to be strong, and powerful. What boy does not? Are these desires evil? I think not. They are placed in the heart of EVERY boy, by the MAKER of their hearts. And every boy needs to be guided through his childhood by 2 parents. So, no he doesn't receive a chainsaw on his 8th bday. But how about his 18th? Find YOUR heart, it's in there somewhere.

Heart and emotions are different not the same. in the Bible there are scriptures that speak to the heart. An unregnerated heart is evil. However In psalm 16:7, "I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel: My heart also instructs me in the night seasons" In Psalm 111:3, I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation." In Ezechial 11:19, Then I will give them one heart and I will put a new spirit within them and take the stony heart out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh." all these are NKJV.

people are not to be rulled by emotions. they have done stupid things when ruled by their emotions. a heart in tune with the Lord reflects His glory.

I think this article is based on a faulty understanding of what God means when He says "heart". To suggest that God is ONLY speaking of emotion is as over-simplistic and rediculous as assuming by "heart" HE means the actual cardiac organ.

I do agree that emotions ALONE are not reliable to guide one's entire life. Emotions are part of our being created in His image, and emotions are part of our image bearing. To distrust emotions categorically is simply foolish.

There seems to be a false dichotomy amongst Christians that one is either lead by "emotion" or sometimes "experience" OR one is lead by "intellect" through Bible reading. Christians are lead by the Holy Spirit, whether they're reading their Bibles or engaging in the experiences of their lives, it's not an EITHER/OR it's a BOTH/AND. God tells us to be comepletely submitted to Him... which means our intellect, our emotions, ALL that He created when HE created us; submitted to Him.

I agree;the Susan Smith idea is bogus

One more thing, I feel that we have missed the difference in feeling and the heart. The heart is more than a feeling. How we feel does in fact change, but feelings and our hearts are two different things. Especially when things are made new. More on made new in the following post.

Just because we feel something does not mean that is our heart that God gave us anyway.

I guess I cannot tell if you are saying to not have a heart or a soul about anything? Are you saying that we just read the bible and "do what it says" like we are robots? Like all we were created for was to answer "yes master" and have no desires what so ever?

Or could this article be an extreme off the fact that there are some who do not understand the difference between desire and lust and so this is not a correct response, but simply a reaction to those improper uses? Regardless, the Heart that the Father gives us is more than "feelings." Ask the Father and Listen to Him, he will tell you.

When the bible tells us that those who are in Christ are a "new creation," what does it speak of? Too often I feel that we have not discussed with the Father what he actually does in us, at our "salvation."

What is new? Does anything change in our physical bodies? No, we still die. Oh we may experience miracles of the flesh at times, but spiritually speaking what is new? What is made different?

Some credit it as "the holy spirit dwelling in us" but then I beg to ask, why would we being "made in the Image of God Himself" not possess some good in us having been made whole by Him at some point in time? If our Father, Yahweh, is the only true thing that is 'good,' and he gives us a new life a new heart, can we not follow it? Wouldn't you want your child to follow a new heart if you gave them one? Wouldn't you want to see them experience life WITH you that way? Is not this the Kingdom of Heaven when we walk with God and speak to Him as Adam did from a pure heart?

Reading this article made my stomach twist into knots. By suggesting that following your heart leads you to murder your children is ridiculous. Susan Smith is a deranged psycopath, this point is very hate filled and one sided. I can't believe she can get away with saying something so indecent on a "Christian" website. It is good to follow your heart on some occasions, (I will concede, not on all.) If I didn't follow my heart however, I would have never found Jesus or my wife. I encourage everyone who reads the egotistic blatherings of this author to sit down take a deep breath. Use some common sense, it's not always a bad thing to use your emotions. Your emotions aren't evil. They can be decieving at times yes, but you shoudln't shun them away all together because, as she pointed out, you will explode all of your feelings at once. I hypothesize that because of the bottling up of emotions people like Susan Smith snap and do horrendous things.