Feel Right About Doing Right
My brother in Christ, Mike Bonner, who preaches in Abilene, Texas, had this to say: “There’s a difference between continent [restrained] behavior and virtuous behavior! One is doing what’s best opposed to proper attitude and the other is doing what’s proper aligned with the correct attitude. Which one are you? (2 Peter 1:3-11).” This is a very good thought! Additionally, restrained behavior can lead to virtuous behavior. My father-in-law tells the story about when he learned to play golf. He went to a professional. The golfer told him how to hold the club. He said, “It doesn’t feel right.” The professional golfer then said, “But it IS right. Hold it that way until it feels right!” Now that’s what we need to do with our behavior. Some may think that behaving right doesn’t “feel” right. It will feel right when you do it often enough because it is a matter of education. The first time I called a Christian “brother” it didn’t feel right because I was used to calling others “mister,” but after a while, I learned to use the word “brother” without feeling weird about it. I started saying, “God bless you” to people about 10 years ago. At first, it felt “weird” because I had not been doing it. But now it feels very natural. Our behavior is learned, and the uneasiness that we feel with behaving differently is also learned behavior. We must train ourselves to feel right about doing right! This includes our attitudes as well. Pride, envy, anger, and unholy desire are all attitudes that cause us to feel a certain way. When we behave in ways that oppose those sinful attitudes, we are going to feel weird about it because we have not learned how to feel in the right way relative to righteous behavior. Subordinate the pride, envy, anger, etc., and put it away, and then one day, you will feel right about doing right!
God bless you, and I love you!