When Feelings Take The Wheel

Pastor Ortiz preached from Galatians 5:16-25 and addressed the danger of being governed by feelings. Paul was writing to churches he knew, churches that had been planted and built up, but were drifting. False teachers were pressing legalism into the church, while others were turning Christian liberty into license. Pastor Ortiz explained that freedom from the law does not mean freedom to do whatever feels right. Feelings make a poor driver because they do not know the destination God wants for the believer.

The message began by acknowledging that emotions are real. Irritation, happiness, discouragement, excitement, hurt, and relief are not imaginary. Pastor Ortiz gave everyday examples of emotions that rise from ordinary moments: being late, finding money in a pocket, showing kindness to a stranger, or feeling frustrated by family pressures. The issue is not that emotions exist. The issue is whether they rule.

Emotions should be results, not drivers. Pastor Ortiz stated the governing principle plainly. Feelings may respond to what is happening, but they should not determine obedience, worship, service, speech, giving, or faithfulness. Many Christians know what is right biblically, but then allow how they feel to decide whether they read the Bible, pray, attend church, serve, give, forgive, or worship. That is the problem Galatians 5 confronts.

Walk In The Spirit

Galatians 5:16 says, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. Pastor Ortiz explained walk as a pattern of life, a consistent ordering of one's steps. To walk in the Spirit is to allow the Holy Spirit to lead, direct decisions, shape speech, guide service, and govern care for others. The Christian life is not meant to be driven by the flesh, but by the Spirit.

Walking in the Spirit does not remove the battle, but it keeps the flesh from being fulfilled. Pastor Ortiz emphasized that Paul does not say the flesh disappears. The flesh still has desires, power, and pull. But when the believer is led by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit supersedes the flesh. The example of anger made this practical. When someone says they have a short fuse or cannot help their reaction, the deeper issue may be that they are not walking in the Spirit.

Pastor Ortiz warned against excusing sin as personality, background, or temperament. A person may have grown up with anger, pride, selfishness, sadness, lying, or other fleshly tendencies, but that does not mean they must stay there. Parents teach children to grow, and believers must also grow in grace and maturity. The flesh and the Spirit are contrary, but one has power over the other. Light consumes darkness. In the same way, walking in the Spirit consumes the desires of the flesh.

This battle itself is evidence of spiritual life. Pastor Ortiz said that if a believer feels the war between flesh and Spirit, they should thank God, because that shows the Spirit is at work. But if someone is entirely comfortable living in the world and has no pull toward the things of God, that person should examine whether they are truly saved.

What Leads You?

Pastor Ortiz quoted the idea that being governed by feelings is the source of much trouble in the world and in the church. Feelings can be good servants, but they become cruel masters. Sadness, criticism, anger, bitterness, and hurt are real, but they must be dealt with rather than allowed to govern the inward war. The sermon did not minimize pain. Pastor Ortiz said hurt should not be minimized, but it must be handled in a Spirit-led way.

If we are led by the Spirit, we are not under the law. From Galatians 5:18, Pastor Ortiz showed that Spirit-led living is not bondage to a checklist. It is liberty. The Spirit leads believers into the life God wants for them. That led to the central question of the sermon: what leads you? From the time a person wakes up, through decisions, relationships, worship, and reactions, something is driving. It will either be the Spirit or the flesh.

The Works Of The Flesh

Pastor Ortiz then moved through Galatians 5:19-21, where Paul lists the works of the flesh. These works are manifest, meaning they become visible. When a person walks outside the Spirit's leadership, there will be evidence.

The works of the flesh show where feelings and fleshly desire take control. Pastor Ortiz grouped the list into categories. There are sexual sins, such as adultery, fornication, uncleanness, and lasciviousness, where the body is yielded because something feels good. There are religious sins, such as idolatry, witchcraft, and heresies, where faith is reshaped to fit the person rather than the person being shaped by God. There are relational sins, such as hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, and seditions, where feelings damage relationships. There are social sins, such as murders, drunkenness, and revelings, where the flesh lives without restraint.

The sermon spent significant time on the danger of remaking faith around convenience and preference. Pastor Ortiz used the example of Moses, who was called out of comfort in Midian to return to Egypt and face difficulty. Life is not easy either way, so Pastor Ortiz said it is better to walk through difficulty with God than through difficulty alone. But when believers dislike what God commands, such as service, faithfulness, giving, prayer, and worship, they can start manipulating their faith to fit themselves. Pastor Ortiz called that idolatry.

He pressed that point into worship and church life. Christians can sing of grace with no fire, treat prayer meeting as boring, or treat online viewing as a substitute for gathered church because convenience feels better. They may say they do not want to sing, serve, pray, or gather because they are tired or uncomfortable. Pastor Ortiz warned that when worship becomes about what the believer feels, it is no longer truly worshiping God.

The Fruit Of The Spirit

Galatians 5:22 shifts with the words, But the fruit of the Spirit. Pastor Ortiz emphasized that fruit is singular. Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance are not separate pieces believers pick from. They are one fruit of Spirit-led life, described in multiple ways.

The fruit of the Spirit is produced by the Spirit, not by emotional self-rule. Pastor Ortiz rejected the idea that a believer can excuse the absence of gentleness or longsuffering as something they have not built yet. If the Spirit is leading, the Spirit produces his fruit. This especially matters in relationships, correction, and parenting. Gentleness does not mean weakness. It means the right amount of strength with the right amount of softness.

Pastor Ortiz illustrated gentleness by describing correction that is clear, strong, and calm. A parent can correct a child without anger. A leader can correct a worker without crushing them. A believer can tell the truth without lashing out. He quoted Charles Spurgeon to show the Spirit's own manner: the Spirit does not drive as a machine is forced, but works as life in a living thing. He leads, inclines, and guides. Therefore, believers must learn to submit to the Spirit's way instead of letting emotion set the tone.

Crucify The Flesh Daily

Galatians 5:24 says that those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts. Pastor Ortiz explained that if believers are going to live in the Spirit rather than for their emotions, they must get rid of the flesh's leadership. The war is daily, so the response must also be daily.

The flesh must be confronted and yielded to God every day. Pastor Ortiz said the problem is not merely around us. The problem is us. Believers need to come before God, confess sin, receive cleansing, and yield the flesh to him. Paul said elsewhere, I die daily. Pastor Ortiz connected that to practical submission: the Spirit gives new life, new desires, new thinking, and new speech. The Spirit leads in giving, serving, relationships, and every part of life if the believer submits.

The sermon closed with a direct question: if someone could point out what is driving your life, would it be the Spirit or your emotions? Pastor Ortiz prayed that the church would stop being led by flesh, feelings, and convenience. The call was for believers to worship sincerely, serve faithfully, live through the Spirit, and stop shaping faith around themselves. Galatians 5 offers a better driver than feelings: the Holy Spirit, who leads God's people into love, joy, peace, gentleness, self-control, and real Christian maturity.