God made us to feel but He gave us minds to think as well; though our feelings allow us to be compassionate they can also cause us to be self-centered. Knowing God by reading His Word and through prayer we not only talk to Him but learn to listen so that His Holy Spirit might lead us differently than what our emotions would dictate. For all who are of Christ Jesus become like Him. We the Body of Christ use our feelings and our emotions to sense what is happening but no longer allow them to direct us. Instead when we feel jealous we turn to Jesus knowing that is not like Him and when we feel compassion we are compelled to action, not because we feel compassionate but because it confirmed how the Holy Spirit was already leading us. Our feelings are important and when used properly can cause us to have a greater awareness of the purpose of Christ in our lives.
Often we see Jesus stop on His journey to heal someone because He felt compassion for them. What He did for them depended upon their faith, as we see Him many times ask what He could do for them.
Luke 8:43-48 MKJV And a woman who had a flow of blood twelve years (who had spent all her living on physicians, and could not be healed by any) (44) came behind Him and touched the border of His garment. And instantly her flow of blood was staunched. (45) And Jesus said, Who touched Me? And all having denied, Peter and those with Him said, Master, the crowd presses and jostles You, and You say, Who touched Me? (46) And Jesus said, Someone has touched Me, for I know that power has gone out of Me. (47) And seeing that she was not hidden, the woman came trembling. And falling down before Him, she declared to Him before all the people why she had touched Him, and how she was instantly healed. (48) And He said to her, Daughter, be comforted. Your faith has saved you; go in peace.
Now Jesus is God’s Son and so He is aware of all that is done, said, or even thought but He is also man and being such He is touched by the feelings of our infirmities. This is good Jesus being moved by the Holy Spirit senses our needs through His own feelings for us.
Hebrews 4:15-16 MKJV For we do not have a high priest who cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted just as we are, yet without sin. (16) Therefore let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
And so we are not to put away our feelings or hide them because they can mislead us but rather understand why Father God gave them to us in the first place. Like a cool summer wind blowing and causing the hair on our arm to tingle so too can our emotions make us aware of things unseen. If we know and depend on Father God to lead us first through His Word but also by His Holy Spirit then like Jesus we are to move beyond our emotions to go where He leads us or do what He tells us. Yes, this is where depending strictly on feelings causes us to fall short but through faith and obedience we go beyond being made aware to being vessels used by the Master to bring water to the thirsty and sight to the blind. For Christ Jesus displayed this when He went to the cross; He felt deeply yet He was obedient, for Isaiah calls Him the man of sorrows.
Isaiah 53:3-12 NLT He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on Him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. (4) Yet it was our weaknesses He carried; it was our sorrows that weighed Him down. And we thought His troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for His own sins! (5) But He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. (6) All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God's paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on Him the sins of us all. (7) He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet He never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, He did not open His mouth. (8) Unjustly condemned, He was led away. No one cared that He died without descendants, that His life was cut short in midstream. But He was struck down for the rebellion of My people. (9) He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But He was buried like a criminal; He was put in a rich man's grave. (10) But it was the LORD's good plan to crush Him and cause Him grief. Yet when His life is made an offering for sin, He will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the LORD's good plan will prosper in His hands. (11) When He sees all that is accomplished by His anguish, He will be satisfied. And because of His experience, My righteous Servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for He will bear all their sins. (12) I will give Him the honors of a victorious soldier, because He exposed Himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.
