What Is Good, What Feels Good

For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is the belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our commonwealth is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power which enables him even to subject all things to himself.

Philippians 3:18-21

How do we distinguish what is good from what is evil?

How may we be certain we are adhering to God’s Law and not rationalizing our disobedience of God’s Law?

Certainly we can look to Scripture to know at least the letter of God’s Law. We can read in Exodus, in Leviticus, and in Deuteronomy what God requires of us. We can read in all the prophets of the Old Testament the cost and the consequence both of following God’s Law and rejecting God’s Law. We can read in the Gospels what Jesus taught about God’s Law and how we should keep God’s Law.

Yet when we look to Scripture we also see that simply knowing the letter of God’s Law is not enough.

Jesus Himself denounced the hypocritical legalisms of the Pharisees. As the Apostle Paul teaches in Romans, we have to carry out God’s Law, not simply know God’s Law. As the Apostle James points out, simply relying on the letter of God’s Law is sure to leave us condemned before God.

Even when we know God’s Law, we are still burdened with temptations and desires—with “thorns in the flesh”—which challenge our fidelity to God’s Law.

Temptation and desire certainly feel good, especially in the moment. Our many addictions, habits, and vices are indisputable testimony to this, even though they are hurtful to us. The Apostle Paul warned us of this very thing in 1 Corinthians 10, and advised us further in Romans 12 to always take excellent care of ourselves—self care is a moral duty to both ourselves and God.

The warning and the advice arise because, as good as temptation and desire feel, they are not what is good, for they are not what God requires of us.

We are human. We are imperfect. We are fallen.

We know temptation. We experience desire. We feel the tug of earthly pleasures pulling us off the path laid out before us by God’s Law, pulling us into temptation, delivering us into the hands of evil.

We are sinful.

That is part and parcel of what it means to be human.

We know God’s Law. We know what God requires of us. We simply do not want to do it, at least not all the time.

We know what is good. We are drawn instead to what feels good.

Such is the essence of sin—knowing what is good and choosing what feels good instead.

We sin, and yet who among us wants to suffer the full penalty of our sin? Who among us would blithely accept the penalty God’s Law demands of us for our sin?

At a minimum, we seek to make the atonements God calls us to make. Even though the sin offerings commanded in Leviticus are no longer feasible options, we at least understand the need to atone, both to God and to any who we may have wronged by our sin. We know we need to make such amends as we can to those whom we have hurt.

Yet how many times have any of us sought to rationalize away the need for such contrition? How many times have any of us argued at least with ourselves that it “wasn’t [our] fault”—when the action, the sin, and thus the fault are clearly ours?

How many times have we given half-hearted acceptance of God’s Law with endless variations of “yes, but…”?

How many times have we sought to convince ourselves that what feels good really is what is actually good, twisting and contorting God’s Law in support of our earthly and carnal desires?

Certainly we have only to pause to listen to any number of political messages to hear people of all political stripes attempting to convince us of this very thing, that somehow our immorality is really just misunderstood morality. Jesus warned us of such false prophets, warned us to look honestly and critically at what people do, and not be distracted by what they say.

Whether priest, pastor, or politician, such people seek to exploit our capacity for sin, turning it to their own perverse benefit. Such people tell us that what feels good really is good, even when Scripture says plainly that it is not at all good.

So we are constantly challenged to discern what is truly good from what we selfishly wish were good, that we might indulge our desires.

So we must constantly question ourselves, gauging both our actions and our intentions. Are we striving to be the light of the world, the calling Jesus gave everyone in His Sermon on the Mount? Are we seeking to bear witness to the Truth that is Jesus Christ, the Truth that is His Crucifixion and Resurrection?

Are we allowing ourselves to daily be born again into a life of renewal, of transformation, of growing closer to God?

Are we being courageous and hopeful? Are we instead being hesitant and fearful?

When the honest answers are not as we wish, are we willing to rededicate ourselves through prayer and serious study of God’s Word, that we might find our way back onto the path of righteousness that God has laid before us?

I know my honest answers are not always as I wish. I know I am sometimes more hesitant than I am hopeful, that I am frequently more fearful than I am courageous. I know that I am rarely the manner of man I want to be.

I also know that, if I can admit that much, if I can acknowledge that I do fall short of the glory of God, I can also accept God’s promised forgiveness, the Redemption Jesus gave all of us on the Cross at Calvary. I know that I can pray, study, reflect, and strive to keep pushing forward in search of that righteous path.

I know what is good. I know what feels good. I know that God will give me the strength to choose what is good and resist what feels good, if I will open my heart to Him.

My prayer this day is that God will grant me the strength to every day choose what is good, and reject what merely feels good. My prayer this day is that, when I stumble, God will lift me up yet again, setting my feet back on that righteous path He has laid before me. My prayer this day is that I will daily be willing to be born again into a new life of constant transformation, renewal, and hope.

My prayer for you this day is that God will grant you also the strength to every day choose what is good, and reject what merely feels good. My prayer for you this day is that, when you also stumble, God will lift you up yet again, setting your feet back on that righteous path He has laid before you. My prayer for you this day is that you also will daily be willing to be born again into a new life of constant transformation, renewal, and hope.

I know what is good. I know what feels good. I know that God will give me the strength to choose what is good and resist what feels good, if I will open my heart to Him.

I also know I am sometimes more hesitant than I am hopeful, that I am frequently more fearful than I am courageous. I know that I am rarely the manner of man I want to be.

Yet I know that, if I can admit that much, if I can acknowledge that I do fall short of the glory of God, I can also accept God’s promised forgiveness, the Redemption Jesus gave all of us on the Cross at Calvary. I know that I can pray, study, reflect, and strive to keep pushing forward in search of that righteous path.

We know what is good. We know what feels good. Our challenge is to embrace the one and reject the other.

With God, we can do exactly that.