What’s the right thing to feel at Easter? Perhaps it’s a silly question, but I ask it every year.

Because when Easter approaches, my first reaction isn’t celebration, as it should be. It’s usually shock that Easter is already upon us. Then, busyness as my family plans. Who will host dinner? Who’s bringing what dish? Whose church are we attending? Childhood nostalgia inevitably floods my mind, and I ponder getting my husband an Easter basket, and miss getting one from Mom.

And then, I feel guilty. After all, this is Easter. The most important Christian holiday. If Jesus hadn’t risen from the dead, our faith would be meaningless! His sacrifice on the cross means my sins are paid for. His resurrection means death is defeated and I can spend eternity with him. So why am I not leaping for joy? Why is my primary concern with side dishes and Easter baskets? Why don’t I feel all giddy and goofy like I do on Christmas morning?

I don’t know. So I push thoughts of Easter away. I don’t want to deal with the guilt of not anticipating appropriately. Then comes Easter morning. So I fake my way through church, hoping others won’t notice I’m not as buoyant as I should be. Hours later I stuff my face with deviled eggs and macaroni and cheese, telling myself I must be a bad Christian, since I don’t have the right feelings.

Feeling Guilty Over Feelings

Guilt over feelings is common to many Christians, as I discovered reading Blessed Are the Misfits: Great News for Believers Who Are Introverts, Spiritual Strugglers, Or Just Feel Like They’re Missing Something, by radio host Brant Hansen. He shares his own experience growing up sans-spiritual feelings. Not at Easter, but in general:

Clearly, something was spiritually wrong with me. The campus Christians were pumped about their faith. They had emotional worship services. I sang, and felt little. … Maybe God gave up on me? Maybe I’d sinned too much? Maybe he wasn’t there?

In my walk with God, I’ve traveled through well-watered fields and deserts alike. In the dry spaces, including Easter, I’ve asked those same questions. So reading this was a huge relief. I wasn’t the only one who struggled with wondering if I was a bad Christian because I didn’t feel the right way.

Bransen later writes: “There is no basis in Scripture for the idea that if God is still involved with you, you’ll have good feelings. Unless, that is, your actual god is your good feelings.”

The Devil’s Trap

Convicting! So why all this guilt over not feeling the right way, specifically, for me, at Easter? As I recently realized, it’s a trap from the devil.

See, when I start feeling guilty because I’m not feeling overjoyed about Easter, I stop celebrating before I start. I avoid devotions centering on the resurrection or biblical mediation about the holiday. All because I’m afraid I won’t feel right during them.

The result? I miss several opportunities to meditate on Jesus and thank God for the miracle of the cross. Satan’s trap works.

Christians are pros at getting hung up on our feelings rather than what God’s Word says. There are many potential reasons, like churches that overemphasize emotionalism or a culture that tells us truth is based on what we feel, both of which Satan uses.

How can we escape this trap? By not sweating the feelings.

Renewing My Mind at Easter

I get more emotionally excited about other holidays than Easter. Not sure if that will ever change. So what? It doesn’t mean I’m a bad Christian. It simply means that for any number of reasons, including childhood memories and personal predispositions, certain holidays appeal to my emotions more than others.

Regardless of those emotions, I can and should fix my mind on the miraculous truth of the resurrection. I can and should begin that process in the days leading up to Easter. Why? The commercialization of any Christian holiday, and life’s busyness, threaten to cloud its true meaning. By purposefully setting my mind on things that are above (Colossians 3:2), I can make sure that doesn’t happen.

But if I avoid spiritual preparation for Easter simply because I feel guilty, the feelings themselves — and Satan — win.

When I’m not wrapped up in guilt over my emotions, my heart actually has room to enjoy what I’m meditating on! God wins, and so do I.

So next year, I’ll check out some of these devotionals for Lent, the season specifically designated for preparing our hearts for Easter. In the meantime, I’ll mediate on these Scriptures that foreshadow Christ’s coming and describe the events of his death and resurrection. In so doing, I’ll be transformed by the renewal of my mind. (Romans 12:2)

And that’s something no feeling can stop.