“If It Feels Good Do It”

“All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful natureand following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.”  (Ephesians 2:3 NIV)

Ah our title, the motto of the 60’s when I came of age.  Hanging with the hippies on Telegraph in Berkeley.  Tie-dyed t-shirts.  Love beads.  And all that went along with that life.

What a freaking mess.

Yet, even today I hear people spout off the same thought.  And way too often people in churches also.

“As long as it doesn’t hurt someone else.”

“If it’s consensual.”

“What’s done in private should remain in private.”

“Who am I to judge?”

And my theological conclusion?  What a freaking mess.

Why doesn’t it work?

Because we get confused between love and lust all the time.

We can rationalize selfishness beyond comprehension.

And frankly, those negative choices really will end less than positively.

Instead we have power to choose a different kind of life.

We choose whether to believe the instructions for effective living given in scripture or to pick and choose what “feels good”.

We decide every day whether we’ll give in to our lowest desires or follow a higher road even when we don’t feel like it.

Every moment we can choose to guard our thoughts and wrestle them to the positive.

And the results?

Sometimes we don’t get what we want but we get what we need which is far better.

Often we give up something that might have been momentarily exciting to receive what will be life fulfilling.

We forgo a few fleeting thrills and discover the amazing life God designed for us.

Often it’s as simple as, “If it feels good, pause and think about it.”

How do you make those choices?