Emotions
Triggers in life set off a chain of reactions.
- We quickly interpret the trigger as good or bad.
- Our emotional chemicals go to work.
- Thoughts about the trigger begin to form feelings and sets the overall tone of our mood.
Emotional reaction comes first and then feelings are formed. Our minds form quick judgements of situations and the chain reaction begins. This process changes what our bodies feel.
What leads to the transformation of our feelings?
Typically changes in our emotional life happen organically and isn’t a product of our effort or will power. Living an abiding life in God, immersed in His love and holiness, partaking of His divine nature and growing in faith is the process that brings true and lasting transformation.
Imagination
Developing our imagination is key if we want to see things in new ways. We become “locked in” to seeing things the same way every day. The saying, “stuck in a rut” adequately describes how we get into limited and unhealthy mindsets that keep us from growing. We must look beyond what is noticeable and see what must be discerned.
Jesus’ gospel teachings challenge us to see things in His light. Circumstances often feel overwhelming and we become a prisoner to our emotions but we do good to remember that God is inviting us to imagine an alternate reality filled with Him no matter the situation.
Consider these three important truths to understand about the role of emotions in your life:
- Emotions are good when they reflect the character of Christ.
- Emotions are bad when they are dominated by the flesh.
- Emotions can be twisted by Satan and his lies.
Emotions are part of the human experience.
God created us to have emotions & feelings. The enemy cannot create but can only distort and twist what God has created for good.
God is trying to get our attention
The enemy wants us to deny and push down difficult emotions because it will ultimately lead to destroying progress and relationships if we don’t face it. 1 Peter 5:7 calls us to cast our cares and anxieties on Him because He cares!
God is inviting us into His refuge; calling us to come and soak in His presence. When this is our lifestyle, cares and pain cannot cripple us. As Paul states in 2 Corinthians 4, hard pressed, not crushed, perplexed but not in despair, struck down but not destroyed. God, our Father, knows us intimately. He created us. Jesus knows our struggles. Hebrews 4 says He sympathizes with our weakness and was tempted just as we are. God is inviting us, through our emotions, into a deeper faith and trust in Him.
Emotional reaction is a loud cry for the Holy Spirit’s direction.
An intense emotional state is ripe for the enemy to move in and begin spewing his lies and weaving distortion.
Look deeper than the emotion
- What could be beneath anger? Stress, worry, fear, pain, frustration, loneliness, embarrassment, resentment.
- What could be beneath sadness? Disappointment, illness, regret, loss, being overwhelmed, confusion.
Pray and ask God what may be beneath your emotions. Once this is exposed, revelation can flow and healing can take place.
Is there a lie attached to the emotion?
What are 2 main ways we might respond when faced with a heightened emotion?
- The world’s ways are different from God’s ways. One way to respond is to follow the world’s advice in dealing with the sensation so we may feel better.
- God’s way is turn to the Holy Spirit within, discern what is better, to imagine an alternate ending that lines up with His word.
- Ask the Holy Spirit to walk me through it.
- Ask the Holy Spirit to use the emotions, the sensations, to shape you into an instrument for God’s glory.
Feelings are not right or wrong. Our perceptions or judgments that led to feelings, however, may be worldly or Godly.
How do the following scriptural truths make you “feel?” Don’t focus on your intellectual response as you read each one but your “gut feeling” response. Remember, don’t solely base your thoughts on feelings alone but look at them in light of what you intellectually know to be true. Feelings aren’t meant to be kept in a vacuum but to be embraced within biblical truth. To believe God’s promises is one thing, to work them into your inner self (soul & spirit) so the Holy Spirit can impart faith is entirely something else.
Does it feel true that…
Colossians 1:13 - He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love (Do you FEEL as if you are a confident child of the King?)
Colossians 2:10 - and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. (Do you FEEL complete?)
Colossians 3:9,10 - Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him (Do you FEEL that you have died to your old nature? Do you FEEL that your lifestyle reflects putting on the new man and walking that out moment by moment?)
1 Corinthians 2:16 - For "WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD THAT HE MAY INSTRUCT HIM?" But we have the mind of Christ (Do you FEEL that you have the mind of Christ? Do you FEEL Him intimately within you?)
1 Corinthians 6:19 - Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? (Do you FEEL as if you are fully surrendered to the point that what He wants to do through your life is what matters most?)
2 Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (Do you FEEL like a new creation? Do you FEEL your old nature is gone and you now live in the newness of Christ Jesus in awe and reverence?)
Ephesians 1:4 - just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. (Do you FEEL you’re living a holy life? Do you FEEL the love of Christ to the point His finished work on the cross has truly made you blameless in Him?)
Ephesians 1:7 - In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace (Do you FEEL clean in your inner man?)
Ephesians 2:10 - For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Do you FEEL like the workmanship, a masterpiece of God through your abiding union with Christ?)
Galatians 2:20 - I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Do you FEEL as if the flow of your life’s desires is rooted in the nature of Christ? Do you FEEL Him moving in you, influencing you?)
1 John 5:18 - We know that no one who has been born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. (Do you FEEL born of God? Do you FEEL the enemy cannot latch on to you / set you on fire?)
1 Peter 2:9 - But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. (Do you FEEL as if you live everyday in His light, full of His life?)
2 Peter 1:3,4 - as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
- Do you FEEL like you’re walking in His divine power?
- Do you FEEL like you know Him and are living in response to His ongoing call to abide in Him, to be immersed in Him?
- Do you FEEL connected to His great & precious promises?
- Do you FEEL as if you partake of the divine nature of God?
Romans 8:2 - For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. (Do you FEEL free from the heavy law of sin?)
Romans 8:37 - Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. (Do you FEEL like you’re overcoming the flesh and enemy in everyday life?)