Build On A Firm Foundation

            Our society places considerable emphasis on one’s feelings and emotions. While it is important that we pay attention to our feelings and emotions, we shouldn’t rely on them primarily for guidance. Making decisions based on how we feel is not only unbiblical, but also unwise.

            Jeremiah 17:9 tells us that “the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.” Sayings such as “Follow your heart” that are so popular today are the direct opposite of what the Bible instructs us to do.

            All humans are born with a sin nature as the result of sin entering the world through Adam and Eve’s first sin. Therefore, hearts that are not fully redeemed by and surrendered to the Lord are naturally sinful.

            The Bible tells us to trust in the Lord with all our heart and to not lean on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5, 6). When we decide to trust our hearts rather than God, we lean on our own flawed understanding.

            Someone once said somewhat sarcastically, “You can’t trust your heart anymore than you can trust your liver.”

            Exaggerated, but true.

          

Build On a Firm Foundation

            Our feelings are fickle; they can change on a dime. Why then would we want to base our actions and decisions on something so inconstant? 

            Maybe we do feel so angry that lashing out and hurting someone with our words is justifiable in the heat of the moment. But after we cool down and begin to think rationally again, we regret the harsh things we said.

            Perhaps we do feel afraid to step outside our comfort zone. But after doing it a few times, our feelings may change towards that thing we were so afraid of.

            Things as important as our decisions, actions, or words should not be based on fleeting emotions or feelings. Rather, everything we say, do, think, and feel must be filtered through the infallible Word of God.

You may be familiar with Jesus’ parable of the wise and foolish builders. One builder built his house upon the sand while another built his house upon a sturdy rock. The house that was built on the rock withstood the storm, but the house built on the sand was destroyed.

In Matthew 7:24 -25, He said, “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock” (NKJV).

The Word of God is the firm foundation we as Christians must build the rest of our lives upon. On the other hand, building our lives upon inconsistent and temporary feelings is like building a house on shifting sand.

Because our feelings are unreliable, and our hearts are naturally sinful, we must rely on the truth, which is God’s Word (see John 17:17), to guide us throughout our lives.

          When we build our lives upon the unshakeable foundation of God’s Word, the storms we encounter in our lives won’t destroy us.

          Let’s do it together.

-Olivia

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