Sabbath Sentiments

"God made men and women capable of thinking, willing and feeling. In the divine design, our thinking was meant to be informed, shaped and governed by his revelation. We were created to think God's thoughts after him, as it is sometimes put. Such thought processes inevitably inform, influence and direct our powers of volition. We understand what is right and good, and we commit our wills to accomplishing it. In turn, our feelings are molded by what we think and will. In a rightly-ordered life, emotions or feelings are directed to what is good and gracious; these things are desired and loved. Our feelings and emotions are not isolated from our thinking and willing but guided by them.

"That order was overturned by sin; it always is. Our wills now tend to be dominated by our feelings; our thoughts are often ruled by our wills. Because of sin we are able to rejoice only when we feel good. By contrast, Paul is telling us to rejoice no matter what we feel."

~Sinclair Ferguson, Let's Study Philippians, p.102