Does God care about your feelings?

We gotta get out of the mindset as believers of saying we don’t care about how others feel. Let alone suppressing the way we feel. When you tell a person you don’t care about their feelings, it does more damage than you think. You’re basically telling them that they’re not allowed to be the very thing they are; a human that feels.

Our feelings are information. They are an indicator of the outward things that are effecting the inner man. The outward expression of emotions are the indication of the inner struggles and or pleasures of a man’s heart. God wouldn’t give us emotions if they weren’t meant to be felt. Instead of allowing our feelings and emotions to be the final dictator of our decision making, we should lean in to God with those emotions.

God cares about what we care about. Which also means that God cares about how we feel about the things that hurt us, concern us, and genuinely make us ask questions. Hebrews says: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin." - Heb 4:15. This means that Jesus, our mediator, sympathizes with His creations’ feelings. Which also means He cares about them.

The Bible says that we are to be compassionate to one another. Forgiving each other just as Christ forgave us. The compassion component of this verse alludes to God’s expectation of the way we treat others. God’s expectation is that we treat others with dignity and respect.

Romans 12:10 “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another.” And in 1 Corinthians 13, the bout of love starts with patience and kindness. This is to say that before considering another person, consider them as an image bearer first. They are made in God’s image. And God cares about the way we treat His image. Which means He also cares about the way His image feels, meaning that it would behoove us to treat fellow image bearers as God would want them to be treated; considering and honoring the emotions.

Sometimes we use phrases like “I don’t care about your feelings”, or “I don’t care what you’re going through”, as a justification that the way we feel is a means to an end to the greater good of what’s supposed to get done. And we live in this constant state of go go go, without addressing the heart. Remember that feelings and emotions are information. Instead of bypassing, suppressing, and belittling the emotions of others and ourselves, we should take heed to the information. What do I need to do with this emotion? What is this person asking for but can’t articulate verbally? Why do I feel the way I feel? When the information is presented, we now have a plan of action. Prayer.

This is where the work comes in. We pray for those who struggle with certain emotions. We show patience to those who need a moment to process. Love is not overbearing and impatient. Love is patient and kind. It hears, it waits, it endures, and it helps.

Podcaster Tim Ross said that if you can’t put yourself in someone else’s shoes to see how they feel about a thing, you’re lazy and you have no imagination. It’s like you couldn’t even take the time to imagine how they could possibly be feeling. The laziness of discounting the feelings of another person breeds resentment. When a person knows that you don’t care, it’s hard for them to trust you. Stop being lazy. Sympathize with your brother. Feel with your fellow sister. The Bible charges us to bear one another’s burdens, not throw the significance of their life’s experiences under the rug. It’s time to love with diligence.

Feel what needs to be felt. Whether for yourself, or with an understanding of how your brother or sister feels. But don’t stop there. Take those feelings to God in prayer, in fasting, in bearing one another’s burdens, and with love. Selah.