Faithful Over Feelings | Help, I Have Bad Habits (Class 6)

in our online digital discipleship course that we are calling built by habits. Let me just give you a quick truth. You don't become who God called you to be by what you feel. You actually become it by what you consistently do. So let's just start off on an honest transparent level. There are days where you feel really motivated, days where you feel disciplined. There's even days where you feel very close to God, and if we're being honest, there are also days where you just don't feel any of that. And if your life is built on how you feel, then your life will always be inconsistent. So here's the real question. Are you building your life on feelings or are you building your life on faithfulness? If you're taking notes, here's why I want you to write down. Feelings are real, but feelings are not reliable. Jeremiah writes in Jeremiah chapter 17 verse nine, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure." Who can understand it? That doesn't mean that your feelings don't matter. It doesn't mean that nobody cares about your feelings. Here's what it means. Your feelings, they should not lead. I got a friend that he likes to say, "Your feelings definitely need to be in the car, but under any circumstances, they're not allowed to drive the car."

'Cause we're not following our feelings. No, no, we wanna make sure that our habits are in concordance with us following Jesus. 'Cause here's the truth, feelings often change. Like we said earlier, you might feel strong one day, week to next, really confident one day, but very insecure the next. You might feel really close to God today, but tomorrow, you can feel incredibly distant. And if you follow your feelings, then you're gonna live a life of inconsistency. However, if you follow truth, you'll live a life of stability. Number two, write this down. God values faithfulness over flash. Okay, I love this one. Luke chapter 16 verse 10 says, "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much." See, God's not looking for occasional intensity. Really what God's looking for is, he's trying to find consistent faithfulness. I love the story of when Jesus and Peter walk on water. The Bible tells us that Peter gets distracted by the strong winds and the strong waves, and he begins to sink and drown. He calls out for help. Jesus pulls him out of the water immediately. And this says that he gives a statement to Peter and a question to Peter.

His statement, he says, "Peter, you have such little faith." And this question is, "Why did you doubt me?" Now that word in the Bible used for little faith, it's actually a word uniquely used for faith here that's talking about short, inconsistent faith. It's faith that's all built on circumstances. So if life is going really good and I'm feeling really good, my faith is really good. But if life is pretty rough, if I'm going through some challenges, my circumstances don't look that great, then my faith really isn't all that strong. This means that faithfulness looks like a few things, showing up when you don't feel like it, praying when it feels dry and reading the word even when it feels routine. Because consistent rhythms build strong results. Number three, discipline produces what feelings never can. Hebrews, chapter 12, verse 11 says, "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful." Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and of peace. See, here's the thing, discipline is not enjoyable in the moment, but it does produce something that feelings never can. It produces stability, produces strength, produces growth, maturity. And what I found is that a sign of a mature believer is that they served Jesus out of devotion, not just emotion.

My wife and I, we just had our first baby girl, her name is seven. And I'll never forget when we were in the hospital and they placed seven on Daley's chest and I saw her for the first time. I had an emotion, like I've never experienced in my life of all and wondering. Honestly, I couldn't even explain what all I was feeling. And now four months down the road, I don't have those feelings to the magnitude I had them in that moment. But here's something special. I don't just serve seven. I don't just provide and love for our daughter seven off of what I feel for her. my care. Regardless if I've had a long day and how I feel she gets my devotion. Feelings they can start something but man discipline that's what sustains something. Last point write this down. Point number four stay steady not sporadic. All right first Corinthians chapter 15 verse 58 says stand firm let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord. I heard this quote one time and I really thought it was special. It says talent can build something fast but integrity and character and consistency those are the things that make something last. Come on we're talking about consistency over time not perfect moments. We're talking about faithful patterns. So let's recap feelings are real but they're not reliable. God values faithfulness. Discipline produces results and consistency builds transformation. All right I got a challenge for you. Pick one habit maybe it's prayer reading the word worship pick a habit and over the next seven days engaging that habit regardless of how you feel. I'd love to pray for you as we close this session. God help us not to be led by our feelings but help us to be led by our faith. Give a strength to stay consistent even when it's hard. Build discipline in us that leads to lasting transformation in Jesus name. Amen. Hey you don't need more motivation we got that. What you need is more consistency. So get ready to live a transform life built by healthy habits.

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