I was thinking about the response I gave a colleague concerning a troubling text he had received. I said, “I’ve got mixed feelings” about it. We’ve all used that phrase. What do you mean when you use it, or in my case, “What did I mean?” If you have mixed feelings about something or someone, you feel uncertain about them because you can see both good and bad points about them. That was true with my response.
But here’s an interesting piece of trivia. Often “mixed feelings” have little or nothing to do with “feelings.” Sometimes it’s a matter of ambivalence. Sometimes you want to avoid a possible conflict. You don’t want to commit one way or the other.
There have been times during a spiritual conversation with someone that they give the “mixed feelings” response. “I have ‘mixed feelings’ about Jesus.” It’s not so much that they see good and bad points. It’s more…”I don’t want to commit.” As for the word commit, is it found in the Bible? Psalm 31:5 says, “Into your hands I commit my spirit; redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth.” When Jesus was dying on the cross, he said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” Luke 23:46. Committing yourself to God means to entrust oneself entirely to Him. I’m glad God didn’t have “mixed feelings” about me when He died on the cross to secure my salvation. How about you?