Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 171 ｜ Biblical Forgiveness： The Mercy of Brandt Jean

00:00:00.000 Hey guys, welcome to Relatable. Happy Monday. I hope everyone has had a great and restful

00:00:05.820 weekend. Today, by popular demand, we are going to be talking about the case of Botham Jean,

00:00:11.880 really the moving speech that was given by his brother that kind of went viral last week,

00:00:17.200 some of the controversy that unfortunately surrounded that speech and the reaction to it.

00:00:22.240 We're going to be talking a little bit about biblical forgiveness, really how we should be

00:00:26.080 approaching this situation and talking about this situation from a biblical perspective. I'm going

00:00:32.440 to play you a bit of that speech so we can have some context. Okay. Now, without further ado,

00:00:38.920 I want to play you part of this speech by Brant Jean, who is the brother of Botham Jean.

00:00:44.680 We, the jury, find unanimously that the defendant did not cause the death of Botham Jean while under

00:00:51.260 the immediate influence of sudden passion arising from an adequate cause and assess the defendant's

00:00:57.840 punishment at 10 years imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. In addition,

00:01:03.720 we assess a fine of zero dollars and it's signed by the presiding juror. Would you like to have the

00:01:10.480 jury poll? Okay. Is there any legal reason why this sentence should not now be imposed?

00:01:16.100 I'm not going to say I hope you rot and die just like my brother did, but I personally want the best 0.81

00:01:26.860 for you. And I wasn't going to ever say this in front of my family or anyone, but I don't even 0.97

00:01:38.740 want you to go to jail. I want the best for you because I know that's what, that's exactly what

00:01:50.600 Botham would want you to do. And the best would be give your life to Christ. I don't know if this is

00:01:58.120 possible, but can I give her a hug, please? Please? Yes.

00:02:08.860 So for those of you who don't know the situation, Botham Jean last year was killed by an off-duty

00:02:30.880 police officer, Amber Geiger. If you are unfamiliar with the case, Geiger walked into Jean's apartment

00:02:36.500 and shot him. She claims that she thought that she was walking into her own apartment and that

00:02:41.460 she saw some large shadowy figure coming at her and assumed that someone had broken in.

00:02:47.640 She received 10 years in prison and was charged with murder, not actually manslaughter. Some people

00:02:53.420 believe that this sentencing was too light for murder. Some even thought that it was too heavy

00:02:57.900 because it was not premeditated murder and was to some people essentially manslaughter too. That's how

00:03:04.300 some people see this. It was essentially manslaughter, but it was not an accidental killing.

00:03:09.220 It wasn't one that happened by happenstance. It was an intentional killing of a man with a gun.

00:03:16.400 It may have been a lapse in judgment. It may have been a hasty decision based on maybe she thought that

00:03:21.900 she had to fear for her life, but it wasn't as far as we can tell premeditated, as far as we can tell

00:03:28.400 there wasn't any malicious intent, but it wasn't really technically an accident. She intended to

00:03:35.640 kill him and she did, which is why she was convicted of murder, but she was only given 10 years,

00:03:40.880 probably because of the lack of intent, malintent, and the unique circumstances surrounding the

00:03:47.040 situation. It was, I mean, I was surprised, honestly, that it was only 10 years actually, but

00:03:54.420 I don't know enough to say necessarily that it wasn't an appropriate sentencing. A lot of people

00:04:00.460 are jumping to a lot of conclusions saying that it wasn't appropriate either one way or the other.

00:04:04.620 I'm just going to be honest and say, I don't really know. I will defer to the expertise of the judge

00:04:11.600 in this case. I was surprised, but I just can't say with authority one way or the other whether it was

00:04:17.560 appropriate or right. There is a lot that we don't know here. There's a lot that I don't know here.

00:04:22.140 There's a lot that you don't know here. We don't know really what happened. All we have are accounts

00:04:26.860 of what happened. We don't know exactly everything that went down. We don't know what was going

00:04:32.420 through Geiger's mind. We don't know if there was any, a malintent on her part. We're assuming that

00:04:37.580 there wasn't, but we don't actually know. We have no idea. Only Geiger and God know everything that

00:04:43.800 happened that night, but there are some things, there are some things that we do know. We know that

00:04:49.120 Gene was 26. He was an accountant at PWC in Dallas. He was known by his friends, his family,

00:04:55.520 and coworkers as kind, as friendly, and the kind of person that you just wanted to be around.

00:05:01.320 It is a tragic event no matter what when someone is murdered, but there seems to be this extra sting

00:05:08.660 when people's lives are taken at a time that feels to us premature when they're in the prime of their

00:05:15.040 lives with so much ahead of them. That just makes it a little bit more stomach turning,

00:05:20.340 I would say. Assuming that the testimony of his friends and family is true, we also know

00:05:25.800 that Gene was a Christian, which would mean that right now, as we speak, he is worshiping in the

00:05:31.040 presence of Jesus. He is more whole, more joyful, more content, more satisfied than any of us will

00:05:38.000 ever know on this side of eternity. So while we feel, while I feel that he has missed out on so much

00:05:44.240 of life, we can know for sure as Christians that he does not feel like he is missing out on anything.

00:05:49.580 He doesn't wish that he was anywhere else. He is not worried about what was ahead of him in life.

00:05:55.740 He is fully content as he is right now. We also know as Christians that we serve a sovereign God

00:06:03.360 whose ways are not our ways, whose thoughts are not our thoughts, that while I believe God truly feels

00:06:10.360 the pain during tragic events like this, in the same way that Jesus wept when Lazarus died,

00:06:15.700 even knowing he would raise him from the dead, God was not surprised by this. He was not thrown off

00:06:20.400 because nothing happens apart from his will. Now, when I say his will, I don't mean his moral will,

00:06:26.080 like something like this pleases him, but I mean his sovereign will, as in it did not escape his

00:06:31.440 control or his foreknowledge. We also know that according to Romans 8, 28, God works all things

00:06:38.840 together for the good of those who love him, who are called according to his purpose. This does not

00:06:43.700 mean that everything works out in the way that we want it to, or that God's definition of good,

00:06:48.500 which has eternal significance, is our definition of good, which is usually of fleeting and selfish

00:06:54.280 significance. God's definition of good is his glory, which ultimately is also our good. We know that as

00:07:01.720 Joseph says to his brothers who threw him into a pit and sold him into slavery, only to later bow down

00:07:08.280 to worship him as a ruler of Egypt. And Genesis 50, 20 says this, as for you, you meant evil against

00:07:14.180 me, but God meant it for good to bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are

00:07:20.080 today. Side note, if you have not read that story recently, I highly recommend it. Genesis is filled

00:07:26.060 with riveting stories that point to God's power and his faithfulness. We also know that as Job says to

00:07:32.220 God, after everything had been taken away from him, after he suffered significant tragedies,

00:07:37.880 after he is rebuked by God for questioning his fate in Job 42, 2, I know that you, God, can do all

00:07:45.440 things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. We also know that as Jeremiah says, as he prays for

00:07:52.060 understanding, uh, in Jeremiah 32, 17, uh, Lord God, it is you who have made the heavens and the earth

00:07:59.460 by your great power and by your outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you. Nothing is too hard for

00:08:06.660 you. God is not limited by human authority or power or laws. Nothing is too hard for him. There

00:08:13.140 is no such thing as an obstacle to God. There are no challenges. Nothing confuses him. He is not

00:08:17.960 stumped by complexity. God has never had to figure things out. There are no questions. God is seeking

00:08:23.820 the answer to. He is the source of all wisdom and knowledge. This is something that we can know,

00:08:28.720 even in times that are confusing and tragic. Uh, there has never been anything that God has struggled to

00:08:34.780 accomplish. He is all powerful. He has no worthy opponents. He has no formidable adversaries. Uh,

00:08:41.020 his word does not return void. His plans are always executed in perfect accordance to as well. And his

00:08:46.920 purposes are never not for one second, not even a little bit hindered. Uh, God does not need human

00:08:53.320 directions. He does not need a human suggestions. He is not defined by human thought. He is not persuaded

00:09:00.300 by human reason. He is not subject to human feelings. He is not malleable to human theology,

00:09:05.540 and he is not formed by human ideology. God does not need us at all. God is self-defining. He is

00:09:13.200 self-existent. He is self-sufficient. He is a jealous God, zealous for his own glory, concerned with his own

00:09:19.340 honor, who graciously has woven a plan of redemption for sinful mankind by the way of his son, Jesus,

00:09:25.780 who left his throne on high to live a life. He didn't have to live to die a death. He didn't

00:09:30.420 deserve to die serving as the ultimate eternal sacrifice on our behalf, rising again, defeating

00:09:36.020 death forever so that we enemies of God, children of wrath, sons and daughters of disobedience could 0.98

00:09:41.940 be reconciled to this holy, perfect God. And by grace through faith can be called friends, can be called

00:09:48.880 heirs, children of light and sons and daughters of the most high King. This is something that we can

00:09:55.420 know, that we can bank on, the things that we find hope in, even in the darkest circumstances,

00:10:01.320 that this is the message that we can shout from the rooftops. This is the God that we serve. And

00:10:08.160 this God in all of his sovereignty and grace has done two things that are relevant to our conversation

00:10:13.440 today. One, he has shown his power and his goodness through this tragic and seemingly hopeless

00:10:19.680 story of Botham Jean's death in the trial of Amber Geiger. And two, he has done so by defining

00:10:24.940 forgiveness and directing and empowering his disciples to do so, to forgive. And really it's

00:10:33.600 the second that answers the how for the first. God has been glorified by the moving speech Botham

00:10:40.080 Jean's brother gave and has even used a tool that is sometimes exclusively destructive, social

00:10:45.920 media, to share his gospel. This kind of forgiveness that was demonstrated by Brandt is only possible

00:10:53.060 through the work of the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, though, there were some, even those who call

00:10:59.580 themselves Christians, who were upset by this, who were upset by either the forgiveness itself

00:11:05.120 or the reaction by some to the forgiveness itself. This is the title of an NBCnews.com article.

00:11:11.720 Botham Jean's brother told Amber Geiger, I forgive you. It became a polarizing moment. Now,

00:11:18.860 why would this be polarizing? Couldn't this be a time that we all come together, especially all those

00:11:24.240 who bear the name of Christian and say, amen, thank God for transcending a racial division or what

00:11:30.840 some are calling racial division. Praise God for transcending a moment that could have been marred by

00:11:37.060 sadness and tragedy and bitterness and resentment forever. And none of us would have even thought

00:11:42.420 twice about it. But God makes good things come out of devastating situations. And yet some don't see

00:11:49.900 the hope in this situation. They don't see the situation quite that way. And Cornell William Brooks

00:11:54.720 is a former president and CEO of the NAACP, also a pastor. He wrote this on Twitter. I have preached

00:12:02.120 forgiveness for 25 years, but using the willingness of black people to forgive as an excuse to further 0.92

00:12:08.560 victimize black people is simple. America should ask black people forgiveness for serially asking 1.00

00:12:16.020 African-Americans to forgive sanctioned hashtag police brutality. Bernice King, the youngest daughter

00:12:22.400 of Martin Luther King Jr. tweeted that racism and white supremacist ideology can't be hugged out.

00:12:29.720 God bless Botham Jean's brother, but don't confuse his forgiveness with absolving this nation for its

00:12:35.440 grows bitter discrimination against black people in a myriad of its systems and policies. There was an

00:12:41.240 article in the Washington Post by Jamar Tisby titled White Christians do not cheapen the hug and message

00:12:47.180 of forgiveness from Botham Jean's brother. Tisby says this in her article, although Christians of 0.70

00:12:53.120 different backgrounds shared a variety of responses, this moment was especially celebrated, she says, by

00:12:58.560 white Christians. It seems to indicate a desire to hastily move on from the wrong done and offer a perfect 0.96

00:13:04.800 picture of reconciliation. She goes on to say a society built around white superiority is also

00:13:10.760 built around white innocence, an assumption of intrinsic moral virtue of all white people and the 0.89

00:13:17.380 purity of their intentions regardless of impact. White innocence assumes black forgiveness. No one 0.87

00:13:23.220 should mistake black forgiveness for complacency with racial injustice. There were many other tweets 0.83

00:13:28.760 and articles and viral posts authored by people of all races telling white people basically to stand

00:13:34.700 down and that white people who are posting about the forgiveness aspect of this but not the trial

00:13:40.060 itself are just perpetuating white supremacy and are being insensitive. The woke narrative was that

00:13:46.420 a forgiveness has been a tool of white supremacists to justify perpetuating racism. Unfortunately, like I

00:13:53.960 said, there are professed Christians who latched on to this kind of nonsensical reasoning. It is important to 0.99

00:14:01.720 note also, just going back to that Washington Post article, that from a biblical perspective, there is

00:14:06.940 no such thing as black forgiveness or white innocence. There is not collective forgiveness or innocence. 0.69

00:14:13.560 That is not how the God of the Bible views things. That is Marxist terminology. That is not biblical

00:14:19.180 terminology. First, let us note the accusation of all of these posts, the accusations that these critical

00:14:26.520 posts are making surrounding this. The accusation is that the people, especially white Christians,

00:14:32.420 posting about forgiveness are not and have not been concerned with injustice and oppression.

00:14:38.200 And we have no idea if that assumption is true. Is there evidence of that? I mean, I remember when

00:14:44.300 this happened. We were all stunned. All of my friends, everyone that I talked to, everyone that I

00:14:49.620 interacted with on social media, everyone was stunned. I'm not speaking for every single person that

00:14:53.560 exists. Maybe some people weren't, but I was stunned. The initial reaction was anger at the woman. That's 0.85

00:14:58.260 the natural reaction. And I think probably the reaction that most people had, regardless of their

00:15:02.460 race, how could she do this? How could you go into the wrong apartment and be so sure that you were in

00:15:08.600 the right apartment that you would actually take out your gun and shoot someone? It's hard for me to

00:15:12.520 comprehend how that could happen. That was just my initial thought. The immediate reaction that I had

00:15:17.760 was a pit in my stomach for this man, for his family, for his co-workers, for his friends that now

00:15:21.860 lost someone that they love. In that moment, I saw myself in him, not in her. I was 26. He was 26.

00:15:30.120 We both had our whole lives in front of us. We probably, he probably had hopes and dreams and

00:15:35.300 plans and wanted a family. I have my own hopes and dreams and plans. And he got everything pulled out

00:15:41.380 from under him. He got all of that taken away from him by this tragic error in judgment. I saw myself

00:15:47.940 in him, not in her. What we see is that the woke intersectional left assume that most people they

00:15:55.660 don't know or most people they don't interact with on a daily basis are racist. For their worldview to

00:16:02.760 work, they have to assume the worst of white people. And the fact is they are thinking about racism

00:16:08.000 a lot more than most people are. A lot more than the people that they accuse of racism. Now, I'm not

00:16:14.620 saying there are no racists. There are plenty of racists in this country, unfortunately. And I'm

00:16:18.700 not saying that we don't have a history that includes oppression. Of course we do. I think

00:16:23.660 we can acknowledge our flaws, our failures, our sins, and all of that, and still not make assumptions

00:16:30.160 about people based on the color of their skin or based on their positive reaction to a story of

00:16:34.840 redemption and forgiveness. But that, unfortunately, is what we have called many times on this podcast,

00:16:39.960 the gospel of grievance. One that peddles resentment and peddles bitterness and in order to survive

00:16:46.960 constantly has to think of people not just as other human beings, but as oppressors. And that is part of

00:16:53.760 the negative reaction that we are seeing. Those who are complaining about the positive reaction to this

00:17:01.340 act of forgiveness are the ones making this about oppression in general, not the people who are

00:17:07.440 reacting positively. I haven't seen anyone say, maybe you have, I have not seen anyone say,

00:17:13.400 see, this is how all black people should be. I haven't seen anyone say, see, why can't all black

00:17:18.820 people just hug white women? I haven't seen anyone say that. If I did see someone say that, I would say

00:17:22.620 you're stupid. I haven't seen anyone minimize real racism by praising the story. I haven't seen one person 1.00

00:17:27.820 do that. I would be shocked if these people who are writing these articles and making these critical

00:17:31.980 posts have. I haven't seen anyone use this, use forgiveness as an excuse to ignore injustice.

00:17:39.620 Again, maybe some have. I haven't seen it. The only people who I've seen bring up this idea at all are

00:17:44.620 the people who are telling other people to stop doing it. The reason Christians of all racists are 0.98

00:17:51.760 rejoicing over this is because of the seriousness of the crime and the loss that was incurred.

00:17:57.820 If we didn't think unjust killing was a big deal, we wouldn't think forgiveness was a big deal

00:18:03.780 either. But because we understand the gravity of this situation and the absolute devastation felt by

00:18:10.640 everyone who knew this man, we realize how powerful a story of forgiveness and redemption is.

00:18:17.340 The fact of the matter is, the woke people who are saying this forgiveness is being so-called

00:18:24.700 weaponized, would have probably, probably been happier if he had gotten up and told her to rot 0.99

00:18:31.420 in hell. And honestly, if any of us had heard that, we wouldn't have thought too much of it. We would 0.98

00:18:36.580 have said, you know what? He's angry. He's hurting. We understand why he's saying that. It's, we would

00:18:41.740 have thought, you know what? That's justifiable in this moment. But how much better for those of us who

00:18:47.780 are Christians, for those of us who have hope in Christ, for those of us who ascribe to a better

00:18:52.820 way, for those of us who are called to be countercultural, who are citizens of heaven,

00:18:58.040 how much better is it to see a moment of mercy? How humbled are we thinking about ourselves in

00:19:03.140 that situation and wondering, honestly, if we would have the same reaction? I don't know. I can't speak.

00:19:08.700 I can't speak that confidently about myself, even though I too am a Christian and I'm filled with the

00:19:13.360 Holy Spirit because of that. I can't say that I wouldn't let my flesh get the better of me in that

00:19:18.000 moment. But how awesome is it to remember that we are called as disciples of Christ to radical

00:19:24.140 forgiveness that reflects what Christ did for us on the cross, that while we were yet sinners,

00:19:29.860 Christ died for us. He didn't have to do that. We didn't deserve it. We weren't worthy of that,

00:19:34.780 but he did. Ephesians 4.32 says,

00:19:37.820 As God in Christ forgave us, that's a really big deal. That is radical, unthought of forgiveness.

00:19:51.480 It was our sin who put Jesus on the cross. We rejected God. We spat on God. We blasphemed.

00:19:56.840 We mocked him. We were his enemies. We were dead in our sin. And we are called to forgive others in

00:20:02.620 the same way that a perfect, holy God forgave us. That is only possible through the Holy Spirit.

00:20:09.720 That is only possible through supernatural power given to us by the God of the universe.

00:20:15.340 Matthew 18.21 says,

00:20:17.220 Then Peter came up to him, to Jesus, and said,

00:20:20.800 Lord, how often will my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times?

00:20:26.540 Jesus said to him,

00:20:27.540 I do not say to you seven times, but 77 times. Other versions say 70 times seven. So in other words,

00:20:35.160 forever. No, we don't demand forgiveness because mercy is undeserved, but we do give it even when

00:20:43.220 it is hard. That is what Christians are called to do. That doesn't mean that we forget. That certainly

00:20:49.100 doesn't mean that we overlook justice, not in the slightest or overlook injustice. You can forgive

00:20:54.900 an abuser and still leave an abuser. You can forgive those who have wronged you while still

00:21:00.080 understanding that the government has to fulfill its role as specified by the Bible to punish the

00:21:05.540 evildoer. God is concerned with justice. He is concerned with the oppressed. He is concerned with

00:21:11.680 truth. Godly justice, as defined by his word, shows no partiality to the poor or to the rich,

00:21:17.700 to the white person or to the black person, but only defers to truth and to righteousness. 0.67

00:21:22.600 I am so thankful that this young man answers to the Lord and not to the woke. I am so thankful for

00:21:30.080 that, that he is freed from the bonds of resentment and the bonds of bitterness that not a single one of

00:21:35.860 us would blame him for having. He doesn't need their approval. He doesn't need our approval. He

00:21:41.700 certainly doesn't need my approval. He is a servant of God. He is submitting to God's word.

00:21:47.920 This is something that Christians should be rejoicing over. There is no cause. There is no 1.00

00:21:55.400 reason for division over this. Every Christian of every race should be able to look at this situation

00:22:01.600 and say, thank God. Thank God that he transcends all of our arguments, that he transcends all of

00:22:08.880 our differences, that the gospel can bring two people together that really share nothing in common

00:22:13.840 except for this tragedy. And there can be forgiveness and mercy bestowed where it's not,

00:22:19.720 um, where it's not deserved, which is of course the nature of mercy. All Christians should be rejoicing

00:22:25.940 over this. And of course, if you actually see someone, um, using forgiveness in any way to perpetuate

00:22:32.960 injustice, I don't even really know what that would look like, or to say that injustice doesn't exist

00:22:37.720 or racism doesn't exist at all. Then sure, you can call them out specifically, but I don't think

00:22:42.820 the assumptions that quote, white Christians are rejoicing over this as a way to pretend like

00:22:48.380 injustice has never happened. I don't think that that's fair. I think that's a way to, uh, drum up

00:22:54.680 more outrage rather than to see this for what it is, which is a gift of grace given to us by God. And

00:23:00.740 you know, I'm thankful that despite all of the complaints that are happening, um, or despite this

00:23:06.560 polarization that is needlessly happening surrounding this, that I know there is more

00:23:11.040 than one person out there who was moved by his speech, that there is more than one person who

00:23:15.420 maybe for the first time is considering the validity of the gospel, that there are people

00:23:20.340 who have been changed by this, maybe have experienced for the first time, the kindness that leads to

00:23:24.980 repentance. Unfortunately, those who are just sowing seeds of bitterness are doing nothing to

00:23:30.700 help the situation and in fact are using this, uh, for selfish gain rather than to bring people

00:23:36.380 to Christ. And so I pray that this speech, uh, continues to have an impact and continues to plant

00:23:44.120 seeds and that the Holy Spirit continues to use him as a vessel and an ambassador for Christ. That is

00:23:50.200 what we should all be hoping for. I am so thankful that God is not limited, uh, by the arguments that

00:23:56.720 we seem to be having on a daily basis about things that in comparison to eternal glory, to eternal

00:24:03.600 things don't matter quite as much. I wanted to talk about one other thing that kind of goes with

00:24:10.880 this, but not really, you'll probably be able to see the connection, but it was this Instagram post.

00:24:16.800 I got a lot of messages about something, um, that I said, pushing back on an Instagram post that people

00:24:22.160 were sharing and it was a post saying that no matter what you're feeling, all your feelings are

00:24:27.920 valid. It was saying you're not overreacting and you're not being too sensitive. Anything you feel

00:24:33.320 right now, your feelings are valid. And I posted, well, that's silly. That's not true. There are plenty 0.92

00:24:38.020 of feelings that aren't valid. Your feelings of jealousy are not valid. Your feelings of covetousness

00:24:44.100 or envy are not valid. If you are filled with murderous rage, um, that is not valid. If you have

00:24:49.960 abusive anger towards your spouse or your children, that is not valid, there are plenty of feelings

00:24:54.820 that are not valid at all. There are some feelings that are, and some feelings that are not. There is

00:25:00.340 a difference between real and valid. So the pushback that I got, uh, was from people saying that, well,

00:25:07.380 it's important that even if feelings are bad, or even if feelings don't correspond with reality, that

00:25:12.040 we need to validate them. I simply disagree with that. I don't believe that all feelings need to be

00:25:17.300 validated because the feelings that don't correspond to reality or truth end up being very destructive.

00:25:23.460 So it's possible for a feeling to be real. All feelings are real because you feel them. And so if

00:25:29.140 they're inside of you, technically, at least in you, they are real, but that does not mean they are

00:25:34.220 valid. Valid means true or legitimate. And if you feel jealousy towards someone because they have

00:25:41.440 something that you don't, even though you should be grateful for what you have, that is not, uh,

00:25:46.440 valid because it is not based on truth and it is not based on any kind of legitimacy. It is based

00:25:51.940 on some kind of fear and security that you have. And I would think it would be important for a

00:25:56.660 mental health professional, for a counselor, for a psychiatrist to help their client understand the

00:26:01.400 difference between real feelings that you feel and valid feelings that are true. Now, some feelings

00:26:07.120 can also be, can be valid and true. Like I already said, if you have, um, anger or fear towards an

00:26:13.440 abuser, for example, that is both a real and a valid fear. But if you have murderous rage towards

00:26:20.760 the person that cuts you off, um, on the highway, that might be a real feeling, but that is not a

00:26:27.240 valid feeling because it is disproportionate. It is not true. It is not a legitimate feeling that you

00:26:33.300 have. And that feeling should be managed. And that feeling should not be given into. It should

00:26:39.180 actually be a trained or reared in a different direction or should be shut down altogether.

00:26:44.320 We live in this crazy world that, uh, tells us that whatever is inside you, everything that is a

00:26:51.520 part of you is important. It needs to be listened to. It needs to be followed. That's just not true.

00:26:56.960 The Bible says that the heart is fickle. It is desperately wicked. Who can understand it? So we are

00:27:02.800 not to follow our heart. We are not to give credence to all of our feelings. We are supposed to weigh

00:27:06.980 our feelings, uh, against the word of God and say, okay, what is actually true? And if we are feeling

00:27:12.640 something that is not based on truth, then we need to say, well, I'm going to push that feeling off to

00:27:18.980 the side and I'm going to submit my whole self emotions, my mind, my spirit to Jesus Christ,

00:27:25.060 because we are called to obedience, not to bow down to our feelings. If you continue to bow down to your

00:27:30.340 feelings, you are going to be led to a place of perpetual anxiety and fear. And, uh, you are going

00:27:36.660 to feel burdened, uh, with the weight of all of your emotions. Not a single one of us can handle

00:27:43.560 that. That is why Jesus says that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. The yoke that our

00:27:49.760 emotions places on a place on us, uh, the burden that our emotions place on us is not easy and it's

00:27:56.340 not light. It is extremely heavy and it is extremely difficult. So no, do not give into all of your

00:28:02.360 feelings, do not validate all of your feelings. They will very often lead you astray. We are

00:28:07.740 called to submit all of these things to Christ and we are called to be a discerning with all of

00:28:13.160 these things. Okay. I just wanted to clear that up. Maybe I'll do a whole episode on that. If that's

00:28:17.160 something that you're interested in, we can do a whole episode on feelings, on emotions and things

00:28:21.520 like that. But I think it was important to kind of, uh, talk a little bit further about that since I got

00:28:26.740 so many messages and even emails about it, subscribe to YouTube. If you haven't already, I would love if

00:28:34.580 you did that, leave a five-star review if you so desire. And if you like this podcast, feel free to

00:28:40.020 send me a message on Instagram. If you have anything to say for better, for worse, I hope that you guys

00:28:46.160 have a great rest of your Monday and I will see you back here on Wednesday.

00:28:56.740 you

Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - October 07, 2019

Ep 171 ｜ Biblical Forgiveness： The Mercy of Brandt Jean

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