We hear a lot today from the younger generation about how they feel. It seems our dumbed-down public education in many (not all) schools has taught them how to feel, not how to think. Is that a reliable way to process what’s going on around you?
As a kid growing up (I’m a Boomer), I watched black-and-white war movies on TV. I remember one film in which the soldiers were surrounded by the Japanese in the jungle. At night, the enemy would taunt them by yelling, “GI, tonight you die!” At dawn, they’d find two men in a foxhole dead with their throats slit; no one saw or heard anything. The enemy were like ghosts!
Fast-forward a few years and I’m an 18-year-old Marine in a foxhole at night by myself with the jungle all around. There’s supposed to be two men on duty, but due to casualties, we were shorthanded. We had patrolled all morning, filled sandbags, and dug trenches all afternoon. I had the early morning watch and I was tired.
I was trying to stay awake. Slapping myself wasn’t a good idea, seeing how sound travels at night, and putting a bayonet under my chin in case I nodded off was an even worse idea. I was really struggling … until I heard a sound near my foxhole.
Suddenly, my body was on full alert. Adrenaline kicked in and I was wide awake. I strained my eyes to see in the pitch-black night. I just knew that a Viet Cong soldier was crawling merely a few feet away from my hole to kill me! Sweat ran down my face and into my eyes, making it harder to see. My heart was beating so hard that the enemy could just follow the sound to my position.
I got my K-bar combat knife out and laid it in front of me. Then, I carefully and quietly clicked the safety off on my M-14 rifle. I was not going to be surprised; I was ready!
All of a sudden, a big lizard jumped over a rock near my foxhole. I nearly wet myself! With the threat gone, my adrenaline crashed. I knew there were no poisonous lizards in Vietnam. What I thought was a deadly threat was actually my emotions fooling me.
Now, did I feel like I was in danger? Absolutely. Everything in me said I was in eminent danger. But in reality, there was no real threat. My emotions had tricked me.
Life is like that. I “feel” like I’m in love. I feel like no one cares. I feel worthless, lonely, and depressed. It’s a reality that relying on our feelings alone can get us into trouble. How many young people — or veterans, for that matter — commit suicide because they don’t believe anyone cares for them? Too many!
God has given us emotions like love and anger. But He also gives us wisdom and instruction as to how to control our emotions. Paul told us, “Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.” (Ephesians 4:26)
I learned that lesson the hard way early in my married life.
Paul also told us we were designed to bear fruit in our life. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22)
There’s a lot of ground to cover there, but let me hit on just one for now: Love can and does produce feelings. However, it’s also a choice. We have to choose to love others, especially those people we don’t like. Jesus didn’t die for us because we were lovable. He chose to love us — and die for us.
Something to think about!Semper Fidelis
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