“I’ve got a gut feeling about this.”

That’s a phrase that you’ve heard or maybe have used. The fact is we casually assign a lot of emotional responses coming out of our lower region. “I’ve got a sinking feeling that this isn’t going to work out.”

In the ancient world, it was thought that the seat of our emotions was our soft lower region.

This week we began a series on Ephesians 6:10-20, talking about spiritual warfare and that first line of defense being the “belt of truth.” That belt, most likely a leather strapping rather than a piece made of armor, would firstly be the foundation for the rest of the warriors uniform, but also serve as protection for that soft lower region—the seat of our emotions.

Recently, a friend sent me this article that affirms what is known in the scriptures. That our gut instincts—our feelings—are rooted in our abdomen.

More and more in our common culture, our feelings rule. What we feel and how deeply we experience these emotions are becoming the rule of law.

I feel, therefore I am.

But our feelings are far from a private space. They too are subject to the schemes of the devil and evil influence. Jeremiah 17:9 reads, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”

The belt of truth is another reminder that God’s Story—His Word—is the counterpoint of what is real and right. This is how Paul in Romans gets to the state where “In my inmost being, I delight in the law.” We can easily be swayed that our feelings are the compass of correctness, but they are perhaps the most vulnerable to influence from the enemy.

“Our feelings are real but they aren’t always right.”