Thoughts on Our Emotions & the Bible

 How many emotions have you felt today? Anger, guilt, joy, love... Maybe you felt multiple at one time or maybe you've felt too many to count. 

"Ugh, she spilled her cereal again."
"Aw, that picture is so cute!"
"Why does he always degrade me in our weekly office meetings?"
"This coffee is my favorite, yum!"

We, as humans, are made up of many parts. We can honor and glorify God with our bodies. He gives us the ability to think and reason through situations. And He also gives us inward feelings and emotions to use as another guide source. 

I have always viewed my emotions as intrusions. They were either causing me to worry and fret about something unnecessary or pushing me to love something of this world that I really should let go. I had never once viewed my feelings and emotions as a help in a decision making process or an indicator to slow down. And if I couldn't control my emotions, I at least needed to shove them out of the way. 

But I now realize that my emotions aid me in bringing me to Christ.

We have emotions because God has emotions, and He created us in His image. (Genesis 1:26-28) His emotions are perfect though. He never gets angry over a trivial matter or loses sleep because He can't solve a problem. He is an immutable God, which means He never changes - ever. (Some days, I change my mind every few minutes!) He is holy and righteous in everything, including the emotions that He expresses. 

Emotions are within us to help not to harm. They do harm at times because we have sin, but I'll write about that a few paragraphs down. 

"For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." (Luke 6:43-45, ESV) 

I have always had a shallow view of those Scriptures. My thought has been that as long as I put good things in, good things would come out. If I put bad things in, bad things would come out. Let me give you my definition of "bad" things: bad music, bad tv shows, bad friends. As long as I shied away from those things, I'd have a good heart. 

But my heart already has bad inside of it. I don't even need to shove anything in there to make it bad. "So where does the good from?" I have had to ask myself. Well, duh.... Good music, good tv, good friends (from the flip side of my shallow understanding). But somehow, those are never really "good" enough. The "good" treasure of my heart comes from longing for Christ Himself. "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if three is any excellence, if there is anything worth of praise, think about these things" (Philippians 4:8, ESV) Any good that is found in my heart is through the Holy Spirit. 

If I believe that my heart is inherently bad but God makes my heart supernaturally good, I can use my emotions as a gauge to bring me closer to the Lord instead of further away in my relationship with Him. 

If good emotions flow from my heart, they should lead me to praise God. If bad emotions overflow from my heart, they should still lead me to God either for repentance or for comfort. 

• Find joy in your favorite flower arrangement that's sitting on the table? Praise God! 
• Find bubbly love when your toddler runs to you and throws up his arms? Praise God!
• Find guilt when you've hurt your spouse? Run to God in repentance and accept forgiveness. 
• Find grief when reality hits? Run to God for comfort and peace.

Our emotions can provide relief through tears, memories through joy, and relationships through love. 

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All these thoughts have come from the study book Emotions and the Heart from The Daily Grace Co. I've been blown away by the book's practicality yet its deep theological truths. 

I've studied through this book individually, with a friend, and with a group of ladies - This book can be enjoyed thoroughly in any of those ways. 

A careful walk through this book might leave you with a better understanding of the attributes of God, the fall of man, or any of the emotions discussed (joy, anger, grief, jealousy, love, guilt, shame, and fear). There's also a plethora of other helpful resources and worksheets in the front and back of the book. You'll have to see for yourself!

I hope you go grab a copy and dive deeper into the Word of God!

xoxo, 

Lizzy 💜