I feel that...
Have you heard the phrase, "I feel that..."? I started to notice the phrase when my teenager began using it as a retort to my logically sound lectures (which he has been so blessed to receive on numerous occasions). Once I started addressing the phrase with the teenager, I began noticing it in other places. Joanna Gaines said it on her HGTV program. One of my students said it in class. And I even caught myself saying it the other day when I was explaining my position on a topic to my husband.
I suppose we start to pick up popular sayings the more we are inundated with them, but "I feel that..." is not a phrase I want to add to my conversations. Why not? Because our feelings bear no impact on truth. When I am speaking truth to my child, no amount of his feelings are going to change the truth. When I'm reading my Bible and learning truth, no amount of my experience or feelings change what God has written. Since when were feelings on the same level as truth?
Don't get me wrong, I love my husband. I hate evil. I feel hurt when people say mean things about me. I am happy when my family gets along well. But when we start to use feelings as a way to twist truth, we have a problem.
Short story: One day I was teaching math at a college. I was going over some more advanced math rules. A student raised his hand and said, "I don't feel that's right." I probably squinted at him and said something to the effect of, "Um. Okay, you're wrong. Math builds bridges and solves complex problems. We know this particular math rule is true. Just because you feel it isn't, doesn't make it not true." He responded, "Well I don't like it." Okay, you're entitled to your opinion, but the rule is still true.
That incident happened a few years back, but it really opened my eyes to today's society. Some things, like proven math rules and God's written law, are not up for debate. And our feelings certainly have no bearing on what is true or not true.
I suppose we start to pick up popular sayings the more we are inundated with them, but "I feel that..." is not a phrase I want to add to my conversations. Why not? Because our feelings bear no impact on truth. When I am speaking truth to my child, no amount of his feelings are going to change the truth. When I'm reading my Bible and learning truth, no amount of my experience or feelings change what God has written. Since when were feelings on the same level as truth?
Short story: One day I was teaching math at a college. I was going over some more advanced math rules. A student raised his hand and said, "I don't feel that's right." I probably squinted at him and said something to the effect of, "Um. Okay, you're wrong. Math builds bridges and solves complex problems. We know this particular math rule is true. Just because you feel it isn't, doesn't make it not true." He responded, "Well I don't like it." Okay, you're entitled to your opinion, but the rule is still true.
That incident happened a few years back, but it really opened my eyes to today's society. Some things, like proven math rules and God's written law, are not up for debate. And our feelings certainly have no bearing on what is true or not true.
Psalm 119:160 - All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.
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