Fact #1: Something can be true, even if I don’t feel it is.

Fact #2: Something can be a lie, even if it feels 100% true.

Our feelings can speak to us as loud as any truth or reason or evidence of any kind, which is why it is so important for us to know what we can hold onto when our feelings are running amok.  I can feel worthless or superior, unloved or idolized, helpless or invincible.  But no matter how I feel, the  truth of who I am and how God sees me never changes:

We are living children of the Living God. We are what He says we are, even if we don’t feel like it. (excerpt from Fellowshipping With the Holy Spirit pt.4 by Dr. Chester C. Pipkin)

When I have a firm grasp on who God says I am, it is a game changer.  All the emotional ups and downs suddenly have an answer: I am a child of God.  I can still feel sad or down when someone rejects or mistreats me- but I can get through the sadness because I know I have a Heavenly Father who has not left me without a hope.  And on the flip side, when the spotlight is on me and I’m being praised for some achievement and feel the urge to buy into the hype and get puffed up, the truth of my child-like dependence on God for everything can cut through those haughty feelings and bring back some humility.  Whatever the errant feelings, I can find stability and security in knowing that I am a part of God’s own family. 

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, "Abba, Father." For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children. (Romans 8:14-16 NLT)

As a Christian, I don’t have to be a slave to my feelings.  Instead, I can call on God, my Heavenly Dad, to remind me of who I am to Him, and I can depend on the Holy Spirit living inside of me to help me overcome any feelings that contradict the amazing truth that I am a precious, well-loved child of God.