Witness of the Holy Spirit is mental/spiritual awareness of sonship, not necessarily emotional feeling; love for God is primarily volitional, not emotional

Mike argues the witness of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8 — crying out "Abba Father") is primarily an awareness of filial relationship with God, not an emotional high. People raised in certain church environments expect intense emotional experience as the mark of genuine faith; this expectation is not biblical. Similarly, love for God is not first a feeling — it is self-sacrificial behavior (agape). Mike uses the example of a husband who consistently loves his wife through action even when he does not feel like it, arguing that action without desire is actually more loving because it involves greater sacrifice.