Anonymous asked:

I’ve really been wrestling with “feeling” God. I’ve been a Christian my entire life, but I just feel as if my relationship with Christ is on autopilot. I’ll go a few months spending time everyday with him, but never really getting anything out of it. It’s as if the days I spend with Him are no different than the days I don’t. How can I grow in my relationship with God? Is it wrong for me to want to feel something?

I answered:

No, it is not wrong for you to want to feel something. The mistake comes in when you use feelings as the only measurement and navigation for your walk with Jesus.  Emotions are not anywhere near consistent to navigate by. There are so many contributing factors to emotions that it can be difficult to know what is or is not causing changes, or lack of changes. 

The big problem with navigating by emotion is that you end up waiting around for the feelings to hit before you do anything. Feelings don’t normally lead to growth, I think if anything, growth leads to feeling different. Growth comes from new ideas and from experiences. So it is necessary to shift focus in regards to what leads to growth, instead of waiting for feelings to push you in the right direction.

If you want spending time with God to make a difference in your day, then you need to be active in taking what you learn during that time and applying it to your day. That step of activity is what will kickstart things, as opposed to just waiting for something to hit you emotionally.

That other aspect of active participation that will change the whole thing is service. If you want new growth in your relationship with God, than you need to be applying that relationship towards its goal: serving others. When you go find someone who is having a hard time and show them the love of Christ, that will grow your relationship with Him. You put yourself in some situations that stretch you, and that will put you in a different headspace when it comes to your walk. And the feelings will come later, and be deeper because of how they were acquired.

-Matt from The Bridge

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