Should We Feel “Godly” All The Time?

Luke 5:8, “When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

Someone recently asked me “how to feel godly all the time.” I pondered that question. Did God's men feel godly? The apostle Paul said in Romans 7:24, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Paul didn't feel godly. The truth is that the closer we get to God, we won't feel godly, we will feel like the worst sinner in the building! That is because God is holy, and we are sinners, both by nature and by choice. Even as a redeemed child of God, knowing that God sees each believer in Christ's imputed righteousness, we still sin in the flesh; and as we draw near to our holy God, we will feel awful about ourselves. This is not having an inferiority complex; but rather, knowing that we are inferior as sinners. The prophet Isaiah said, in Isaiah 6:5, "Then said I, Woe is me!  for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts." God's men always felt inferior! Isaiah didn't feel godly. 

Humbly said, as Christians our goal should be to please the Lord at all times, by keeping God's Commandments (Ecclesiastes 12:13). We will fail daily. Proverbs 24:16, "For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief." The closer that a believer draws to God, the worse of a Christian they will feel like, but they are really a good Christian. James 4:8-9 teach us to let our laughter be turned into mourning, and our joy to heaviness, as we share God's burden over unrepentant sin in our cultures and lost souls. As we see in our text Bible verse, the apostle Peter didn't feel godly, He humbly asked the Lord to “Depart from me,” because of his contrite spirit as a sinner. 

So I wouldn't aim for feeling “godly,” but rather, to please the Lord. God created ALL THINGS for His pleasure. Revelation 4:11, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” Paul felt like a wretched man, but he was arguably the greatest soulwinner in history. So we should expect to feel like bigger sinners as we draw nearer to our holy God, “For our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29).

“If God feeds me, He has a right to expect my life.” —Pastor Jack Hyles