day no. 15,859: as a matter of fact

"In other ways, our touchy-feely era is way too interested in motives. This is why we now have stiffer penalties for hate crimes (which must be distinguished from those ordinary, run-of-the-mill love crimes)." -- Douglas Wilson, A Justice Primer

Feelings are difficult to define. Facts are easy to establish. Feelings are subjective. Facts are objective. Feelings can be hard to describe. Facts must be able to be described. Motives are helpful in attempting to help the person, but not in establishing the facts of their case. The reason why the crime was committed is not an additional crime. There are certainly better reasons to break the law than others, but the reasons are not admissible as evidence in establishing the fact. They may play a role in considering proper discipline or punishment, but they are not necessary for determining the facts of what happened.

"Motives matter. Rightly balanced and rightly known, motives matter to persons, and in personal relationships, but there are important places in our consideration where we do not and must not factor them in." -- Douglas Wilson, A Justice Primer

There is a time to wonder why, but that time is not when attempting to establish timelines or matters of fact.

day no. 15,726: the fluctuation of faith and feelings

"One must train the habit of Faith... Now Faith, in the sense in which I am here using the word, is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods. For moods will change, whatever view your reason takes.

This rebellion of your moods against your real self is going to come anyway. That is why Faith is such a necessary virtue: unless you teach your moods 'where they get off,' you can never be either a sound Christian or even a sound atheist, but just a creature dithering to and fro, with its beliefs really dependent on the weather and the state of its digestion. 

The first step is to recognise the fact that your moods change. The next is to make sure that, if you have once accepted Christianity, then some of its main doctrines shall be deliberately held before your mind for some time every day. That is why daily prayers and religious reading and church going are necessary parts of the Christian life. We have to be continually reminded of what we believe. Neither this belief nor any other will automatically remain alive in the mind. It must be fed. And as a matter of fact, if you examined a hundred people who had lost their faith in Christianity, I wonder how many of them would turn out to have been reasoned out of it by honest argument? Do not most people simply drift away?"
-- C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Feelings, moods and emotions change. Faith cannot be rooted in them for the simple reason that nothing can be rooted in them. They are not anchored down. They are not fixed points or consistent coordinates. They cannot be counted upon to be present two minutes from now, how much less to hold the weight of an entire belief system like "til death you do part" together?

At some point, every person needs to tell their emotions to "hit the showers." As Lewis points out, if you don't or refuse to, you cannot be a sound Christian... or a sound anything for that matter. You cannot commit to any position because you cannot count on your mood to last.

Most people lose their faith because they can't remember where they left it. They set it down and never picked it up again. But their feelings followed them around, speaking up when tired, or when late for something, or when hungry or lonely or the like.

Faith must be pursued.

Feelings pursue you.

Feelings drift.

Faith anchors. 

Faith takes effort.

Feelings do not.

day no. 15,352: thoughts inform affections to choose actions

"The head rules the belly through the chest." -- C.S. Lewis says in The Abolition of Man

In other words, our thoughts must inform our affections in order to choose our actions.

Our affections must be under the authority of our intellect and our actions must be thought through and in concert with what we value and esteem most highly. This requires our affections to be in order which requires something other than one particular affection to be left to do the organizing. Affections do not order themselves and cannot be trusted to fall in line without order being imposed upon them. They will not, in other words, simply sort themselves out. If allowed to sort themselves, they will leave you feeling out of sorts.

day no. 15,213: refusing to pay the feeling tax

Q: How can I stop doing whatever I feel like and start doing what God commands?

Feelings are despots. They rule fanatically, flippantly and without foresight. They live in the moment and in those moments they demand every atom pay them attention. They exact taxes from their citizens without restriction. But what if you're tired of their tyranny and plotting a hostile takeover? What is the best way to storm the castle, kill the king and restore the rightful heir to the throne? Begin by refusing to pay the feeling tax. Start there and with the savings begin assembling a rebel army.

James 4:6-8
But God gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

At first, every one of us is ignorant of how much our feelings are driving our lives, decisions, dilemmas, etc... By God's grace, His Spirit begins by revealing to us this reality. This is helpful because previously we didn't even know our hearts weren't trustworthy. But once we realize this is true, we still have a deceitful heart trained by years of habits to contend with and we feel worse, not better. Again, God in His grace, enters in and helps us begin to see in hindsight situations where our hearts were driving and begins revealing to us what we should have done in retrospect. But this only makes us better at repenting of sin, which is another step in the right direction, but not all the way to where we want to be yet. The next step is realizing that you're listening to your heart in the very same moment that you're doing it. This is an improvement chronologically speaking over the previous progress because now you realize you're doing it WHILE you're doing it. But this, again, is not yet the end. It is, in that moment, the ability to trust in God and say, "Yes" to Him and, "No" to self while your self is looming large and at its strongest. This is the place we want to be. To be in temptation, hearing self whisper deceptive sweet nothings and endure the attack by responding, "“Be gone, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.’" When we do this, the devil leaves us like he left Jesus and angels minister to us as they did Him.

Hebrews 1:14
Are angels not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?

day no. 15,212: feeeeeelings should be allowed a seat on the bus; just not the driver's seat

"We live in a time where feelings are something we’re extremely obsessed about. And we look at this scene with Christ and we see Him feeling intensely. He’s feeling incredibly intensely. Our feelings should given to God to be confirmed by Him or thrown down! By all means, tell God exactly how you feel, just like Christ does here. Be raw and completely honest. And then add the same phrase, ‘Yet not what I will, but what You will.’ No matter what, no matter how mature you may be, your feelings should never be given the steering wheel. Not even Christ’s feelings in the garden were given control. Christ DID NOT FEEL like going to the Cross. So much that He was weeping tears like blood and begging His Father to spare Him from it… and yet He said, ‘Yet not what I will, but what You will.’ Given that Christ's feelings in a place of difficulty were not given control, why should yours ever be? Why would you ever give your emotions free reign when Christ in this situation didn't? His feelings submitted to the will of God." - N.D. Wilson

day no. 15,084: feelings are powerful apologists

Philippians 3:17-19

Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. 18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.

Feelings are powerful apologists.

Bellies belie reality. They provide truth claims about the world around them by looking to the feelings welled up within them. They look in in order to look out. Ultimate reality is inside and to be imposed upon the world. 

The Christian looks up to God as the Ultimate reality. From Him comes wisdom to be imposed down to my innermost feelings. My feelings are called then to submit to His imposition. Ultimate reality is outside and to be imposed upon my inner man.

Enemies of the cross begin with their feelings, celebrate their shame, set their minds on the world and end in destruction.

Christians have feelings because Christians are people. Everyone has feelings. But Christians must not put their feelings first. Christians, before they are anything else, are those who put Christ first. Feelings then are to be in submission to Christ. Inordinate affections are to be placed into proper order, not celebrated in whatever disorder we find them. Having them doesn't excuse them being wherever they are found.

Feelings are false prophets.