You Are Not What You Feel – Purity 1952
– By M.T. Clark 05/01/2026 – Purity 1952 Audio Podcast
Purity 1952 on YouTube:
Today’s photo of a serene lagoon — blue sky and billowing clouds reflected so perfectly in the still water below that heaven and earth seem to meet at the surface, with lush mangroves framing the shore — comes to us from yours truly. I captured this scene at Key Vista Nature Park near Tampa, Florida, on February 22, 2022, while TammyLyn and I were on our honeymoon.
It’s Friday, thank God, and I am rejoicing this morning because after the work day is done, I will be heading north to be reunited with my wife, TammyLyn, for my first full weekend in our new home in Glens Falls.
The Lord has blessed us in our marriage and has now provided us with the place where our two lives can eventually become one, as I plan to sell my place down by the river in Stuyvesant next year, after my daughter graduates from college.
Life after divorce can be complicated, but God is working all things together for our good, and TammyLyn and I understand how precious our second chance at love is. Marriage is a gift, and we seek to honor God with the way we love one another.
So if you’ve got someone to go home to tonight — go home. If not, follow the Lord, and He will provide you with what you need, whether that means finding a spouse or a spiritual family through the church. I invite you to follow the Lord to see how He leads you into peace, joy, and love.
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We’ve been working through “Who You Are in Christ” — and so far we’ve settled two foundational truths:
- You are not what you did.
- You are not what was done to you.
Today we take on a third lie — and this one is subtle, because it feels so true in the moment.
You are not what you feel.
Here’s the problem with feelings: they are loud, they are immediate, and they are convincing.
When shame rises and says you are worthless — it doesn’t feel like a lie. It feels like clarity. When fear says you will never change — it doesn’t feel like an attack. It feels like an honest self-assessment. When depression settles in and says this is just who you are, it can feel more real than anything in Scripture.
But feelings are not the deepest truth about you. And to understand why, we need to understand how God actually made you.
Paul, writing to the church at Thessalonica, prays this: “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
Three distinct parts — spirit, soul, and body. This is the trichotomous view of man, and it matters enormously for how we understand our feelings.
The writer of Hebrews puts it this way: “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit.” (Hebrews 4:12).
Notice — soul and spirit are distinct enough that the Word of God has to divide them. They are not the same thing.
So what’s the difference?
Your spirit is the deepest part of you — the part that was dead in sin and made alive in Christ. When you were born again, your spirit was regenerated, sealed, and indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Your spirit is where your true identity lives. This is where you are not condemned (Romans 8:1), you are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), and you are complete in Him (Colossians 2:10) — right now, today, regardless of how you feel.
Your soul is your mind, will, and emotions — the seat of your feelings, your thoughts, your personality. The soul is being sanctified — it is in process. It is not yet what the spirit already is.
And this is where so many believers get tripped up. They measure their spiritual reality by their emotional temperature. They feel condemned, so they conclude they are condemned. They feel distant from God, so they conclude God has moved.
Paul anticipates this confusion in 1 Corinthians 15:44, distinguishing between the natural body and the spiritual — the soulish and the spiritual. The natural, feeling-driven self is real. But it is not the final word.
Your body carries the whole thing through this life — and it too will be redeemed, glorified, made whole.
Here’s the practical word: when your feelings tell you something about your identity — when shame, fear, or despair tries to write your name — you have to learn to take that feeling to the spirit, not the other way around.
You don’t let the soul define the spirit. You let the spirit — renewed, redeemed, indwelt — speak to the soul.
That is what walking in the Spirit and living in God’s presence does. Time in God’s presence isn’t just a devotional practice. It’s the place where your soul gets reoriented to what your spirit already knows. It’s where the noise of emotions gets quieted by the voice of Truth.
Of course, we have to learn how to live by faith and will need to grow in our capacity to live the Spirit-led life. Remember, it’s about growth. It’s about progress, not perfection.
You won’t get this right every time. Neither do I. But every time you choose the Word over the feeling, the spirit over the soul, the Truth over the noise — that’s a step forward. And every step forward counts.
You are not what you feel. You are what God says you are.
Head into this weekend with that settled in your chest and let God’s Word and His love for you define how you see yourself.
Keep on walking and talking with God.
— M.T. Clark
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“The views, opinions, and commentary of this publication are those of the author, M.T. Clark, only, and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of any of the photographers, artists, ministries, or other authors of the other works that may be included in this publication, and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities the author may represent.”
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