Ephesians 4:17-19 -- On Being Past Feeling

"This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness."

Ephesians 4:17-19


The phrase "past feeling" seems a little scary, and something that I think we can all understand, because we go there sometimes.  We block everything out and just do it anyway.  We desensitize ourselves to fear or horror or harming others, sometimes just in little ways... yelling at someone or dehumanizing a certain group and saying that they don't matter, or that they aren't worth our time.

Now, of course I don't think that we need to hang out with everyone, or that we need to remain sensitive to all of our fears all the time.  That's too much anxiety, and being able to step back from our emotion can be a good thing if used in a constructive way.  However, too often we start out small and end up throwing up huge walls, and treating people badly just as our normal behavior.  Even worse, when we go as far as to desensitize ourselves to the Spirit and make it so that we can't hear God speaking to our consciences anymore, then we are losing ourselves and our connection to good.  

Today, let's think about how we are desensitizing ourselves and perhaps alienating ourselves from God... and when we  realize how we are doing it, let's take some steps to reverse it.  Let's talk with God, and get back in touch with the Spirit, relearning things that we may have lost and learning to love as Christ does.