So many times, we’re trying to make everybody else have the same emotional experience we have. In some churches they used to have altars where you came to kneel and get saved. There is nothing wrong with that but it’s not necessary. You can be saved in the back of the room. You can be saved up front. You can be saved in an airplane. You can be saved in a submarine. You can be saved anywhere.

There is this story of a man that came to one of those old-fashioned prayer benches to get saved, and there were some of the brothers and sisters in his country church who came to help him. One kneeled down alongside of him while he was praying and said, “Brother, hold on. You’ll never get saved if you don’t hold on.” Another well-meaning person came up right after that and said, “Brother, let go! I never did get saved until I finally let go.” And somebody else came right after that and said, “Oh, man, look for a bright light.” He said, “When you see that bright light, you’ll know you’re saved.” Later, the man said, “You know, between trying to hold on and let go and look for that light, I almost didn’t make it.”

Don’t impose your emotions on people. We are different emotionally. The witness of the Spirit is not an emotional experience. It is a certainty. God’s Spirit speaks to your spirit, and He tells you, “You are Mine.”

• What emotional experiences have you had in your faith?
• How have your experiences affected the way you share with others? How can you be careful not to impose emotional responses on others?

Reflect on the significant moments of your faith. Journal about things that were emotional and may have been personal to you. Also, write down truths from Scripture about our unchanging God that the Holy Spirit has assured you of.