Feelings are Big Business

"I just feel so overwhelmed, I don't know what to do."

"I feel that God wouldn't want me to minister to that person because it is too dangerous."

"I feel so bad when I discipline my child and they cry.  I feel that discipline should be different."

"I feel like I need to have my own time and my own space to be the mother God wants me to be."

"I feel that God doesn't want people to feel badly."

"I feel a real connection to_______."

"I feel that a good mother wouldn't do that."

"I feel like my husband shouldn't say this to me."

"I feel like the teacher at my child's school is picking on my kid."

"I feel like I just need a glass of wine to relax."

"I feel that this passage of scripture means _______ to me."

See the pattern yet?

Perhaps you've heard some of these statements before.  Perhaps you've thought them yourself.  I read postings from Ann Voskamp online, and nearly all her statements pertain to women's feelings.  In fact, almost all major women's ministries feed off of women's feelings.  Feelings is big business!

We all have emotions.  God designed us to feel and to relate.  Men and women tend to feel and relate differently, but the Bible warns us about feelings centered lives and teaching.  We have a specific warning from Paul to Timothy:

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.
2 Timothy 3:1-7  

In chapter 3, Paul is emphasizing to Timothy the importance of teaching God's truth and to disassociate from people who teach outside of God's Word.  There are many characteristics that can accompany people who teach what is wrong - even though they "have the appearance of godliness."  But false teachings can destroy homes by appealing to women who are burdened by guilt and strong feelings.  Even though these women want to do what is right and are always studying, they don't actually come to know the truth of God's Word.

This warning from Paul to Timothy and the church still applies to us today.  We should be very wary of teachers who appeal to feelings first, and we should be mindful that some women are more prone to falling captive to false teachings.  Following and learning from feelings based ministries is problematic and can be destructive.  This is not only unhealthy for households, but also for the church.