When our emotions or culture define right and wrong, confusion and conflict follow. Dr. Michael Youssef reminds believers that lasting happiness comes not from getting our own way, but from obeying God’s Word and living in humble submission to Christ and one another.
William F. Buckley once observed, “The most important intellectual enterprise is the distinction between right and wrong.” In today’s episode of the MY Devotional Podcast, Dr. Michael Youssef reminds believers that compromise with the world’s view of sin can quickly dull our sensitivity to God’s Truth.
Our emotions are unreliable guides. When we build decisions, relationships, or moral convictions on feelings alone, we become confused and miserable. This is especially true in close relationships, including marriage, where we must learn to live from the perspective of what is true, right, and pleasing to God.
Dr. Youssef points to James 4, where Scripture exposes the root of fights and quarrels: desires battling within us, selfish motives, coveting, and prayer aimed at personal pleasure rather than God’s will. Genuine happiness does not come from forcing our own way or avoiding God’s plan. It comes through obedience, surrender, and humble submission.
When God is involved, submission is not bondage—it is freedom. A life submitted to Jesus experiences lasting joy, restored relationships, and the liberating peace of walking in His will each day.