Timeless Truths: We naturally do not want to put faith into what the Word of God says. One example of that is when Scripture tells us to “give thanks in all circumstances.” Certainly every believer has struggled with some situation that has challenged their belief in that declaration.

We have to learn to live not by what our emotions dictate, but by putting faith in the commands and the promises of Scripture. When we exercise faith, the One who has written those promises will give us the power to obey His commands.

And let’s not forget, if you’re listening to this podcast because you struggle with sexual sin, you especially need to learn that lesson. No matter how strongly you feel temptation, you can exercise faith and experience victory through the power of His Spirit!

Host: Okay, Austin, so you've worked in our counseling department for a number of years, and I wanted to start off by asking you how relevant you think this topic is, living by faith and not by feelings. If you could venture a guess and think about all the guys you've counseled, the guys that you've just kind of casually talked to while you've been on our residential program campus, what percentage would you say need to learn this lesson?

Austin: It's safe to say an absolute 99%.

Host: Wow. Okay, that’s big.

Austin: Yes. If not 100%. I can't think of anyone that I've counseled that I haven't addressed this issue with.

Host: Okay, so if someone is listening who's never even really thought in terms of, “am I living by feelings or am I living by faith,” can we first describe what it means to live by feelings?

Austin: Yeah, sure. So, to live by feelings is simply to live by one’s senses. You can easily quantify that by looking at a 2-year-old kid who's playing and they see a toy that they want. Once they see that toy all hell breaks loose until they have it. There's a sense and a desire that kid has as a 2-year-old of, “I want and I'm willing to do whatever I need to in order to get that thing.”
      Let’s look at a teenager for instance as well. Let’s say he has a friend group and he wants to be like his friends. His friends maybe have the latest Xbox and so he really wants one now. So, this kind of a mindset of living by what I want, if it goes unchecked will continue to go step by step into each stage of our lives. If that goes unchecked in the teenager’s life as a young adult, who knows where this will lead him.
      If you want to really boil it down, living by feelings would simply just be going by what feels best to me at the moment rather than taking into consideration and submitting to what the Word of God says.

Host: Yeah, that's really good because we are Americans through and through and one of the things that's deeply entrenched in our culture is this idea of, “I'm just going to be me. If I feel it, if I think it, I'm going to act on it.” And I think a lot of people, especially our younger generation are being taught to live this way. If you ask somebody, “Why didn't you go to work today?” They would maybe respond with something like, “Well, I just wasn't feeling it.” And as you said, that kind of life will end up being very destructive. And then on the other side, it can be really hard to break out of that kind of life, especially if you've been living like that for a long time.

Austin: Yes, certainly. And like you were explaining, for someone who's now really repented and is wanting to go toward the Lord, how does this now carry into their new life with the Lord? There are a couple of things that I've personally had to face as a result of going against my feelings. I'm not giving over to sexual sin anymore or doing things that in my past life I would have done, but now in my new life with the Lord there are things that are coming against me that I'm having to deal with as far as feelings go. Some of these things include despair, depression and condemnation. There are strong inward feelings that I experience and if I submit to those feelings that can run my life on the wrong track very quickly.
      For me personally, learning this lesson was deep for me because I still remember in the program the first time that I started actually walking by faith. I remember, it was one of those mornings that you just feel dead and have no desire to spend time with the Lord and seek His face. But I knew, “Okay, this is what I need to do. I need to seek the Lord. I need to do my quiet time. I need to pray and read the Word.”
      So, I went to the place where I usually did that, but I was like, “I can't. I just feel like I can't. I'm stuck. I'm sitting here, my Bible is open, but I just don't have it in me.” And in that moment the Holy Spirit reminded me of what my counselor had told me the night before. He told me, “You can choose by an act of your will to praise the Lord.” And that came back to me at that moment as a revelation of, “I can in this moment, even if I feel completely dead, choose to praise the Lord.” And as we know, the Word of God is full of commands to praise the Lord and in every circumstance to give thanks. So, I began to praise the Lord and thank Him for the Word of God and how sure and faithful it is.
      And I just remember that after about 15 minutes of doing that, something broke. It went from being completely dead to me, to me being full of life. The Holy Spirit really began to speak to me and the Word of God began to be real to me. So, a morning that was completely dead got turned around all the way to where I was like, “This is the best morning time I've had with the Lord so far.” So, I just remember that for myself and see how powerful it is to obey even when I don't feel.

Host: You know, I've thought quite a bit about living by faith because I'm the same way. There have been some powerful feelings that have confronted me, assaulted me and tried to hinder me from really following the Lord. And at times I would make some gains like, “Okay, I'm living by faith. I'm not going to live by my feelings.” And then I would just inadvertently slip back into living by my feelings and then after some time passed I would realize, “Wait a second, I need to live by faith.” It took a lot of effort and I've definitely learned some lessons. And if someone is going to live by faith, there are some absolute things they need to know about it. What would you say some of the foundational lessons you have learned are?

Austin: Yeah. So, I would say there are about three major things I have learned that I need to do. The first one is probably a bit counterintuitive because a lot of what people hear about faith is to be bold in their faith and to do a lot of outward things, but I've found for myself that it is a foundational thing for me to persevere in a walk of repentance. The reason for that is that God is trying to give us something as believers, but the enemy is trying to allure us away from it by exploiting our tendency to live by our natural senses. The enemy is trying to nag at us from a natural point of view to lead us away from what God is trying to give us.
      So, there's this war inside that I need to continually be purified in my heart in my attitudes, my motives, my loves and my affections, so that they really are being turned toward the Lord and purified by Him to where Jesus really is who I love, desire and treasure and not the things of this world. If that's not the case, I won't have any faith for what God is trying to give me. Why would I put faith in something that I don't even want? Why would I persevere beyond my feelings for something that isn't even valuable to me?
      The second thing then, now that my heart is being purified is I need to put my trust in the character of God. And it's a choice. Again, faith is not something that's just going to happen on its own. It's something that takes an active choice. It's something that's very intentional. And so that second thing is choosing to put my confidence and trust in the character of God. And how do you do that? How does that work out? I would say that the ability to trust in God hinges on my attitude toward the Word of God, because the Word of God is how I know who God is.
      That is the bedrock of truth for me. If the Word of God doesn't have absolute authority in my life, then I will find myself compromising here and there with, “Well, maybe God doesn't really stand faithful in this area of my life.” Or maybe, “God really isn't for me in this situation.” And it will begin to eat away at my faith. So, I really must have rooted in me a confidence in the Word of God that reveals the character of God to me.
      And the third thing is choosing to praise the Lord even in difficult circumstances. For every single person that I counsel, we will talk about this at some point. Choosing to give thanks to the Lord is so foundational to persevering in this walk of faith. It keeps your eyes off yourself and your circumstances and keeps the Lord front and center.