The Benefits of Emotions

 

Thoughts and emotions are not the enemy of our spirit or of the Spirit of God. God puts His desires in our heart, and uses negative thoughts and emotions as red flags to alert us to unmet needs and unresolved conflicts in our life.

As we take these issues to the cross, we gain God's perspective on them, and His wisdom and truth on how to overcome or to fulfill them, until His peace rules in our heart.

The word "emotion" comes from the Latin word "exmovere" which means "to move out". Our emotions motivate us to feel, and then to do something about them.

Emotions energize us, express how we feel, arouse our passions, spice up our life and restore our soul. Living without emotion is to live in a mental world of clinical, analytical thoughts without expression.

Embracing our emotions is healthy and fulfilling. Denying them is clinical and unhealthy. We block off a part of our self that is very much like our God, who exhibits emotion in so many ways.

Usually, an emotional person is empathetic, not weak; compassionate, not unstable; child-like, not childish. Emotions are very vital to our psychological and physiological well-being.

Emotions influence our attitude about our self, our world and other people. They also impact our actions. We think thoughts and then feel feelings.

Our personality influences our emotions and our emotions affect how other people perceive us. Owning our feelings without blaming them on other people is a healthy activity which allows us to effectively control them and to submit them to God's Holy Spirit to perfect them and to make them more like His fruit (Galatians 5:22-23).

Prayer:

Father God, unto You I lift up my soul. My soul often grieves because of the cares of this world. Only You know how to best renew my mind with Your Word, restore my emotions to true joy and peace, and return my will to following after You.

You are my heart, and my soul rejoices before you. You set my feet to dancing the dance of joy, and I acknowledge You in all of my ways. We attest to the fact that all glory is due to Your name. You alone are worthy of all of our praises (Ephesians 3:4; Psalm 25:1, 29:2).

Thought for the Day:

Our soul is our personality. It contains our thoughts, our choices and our emotions. Faith brings light to our soul, and helps us to think before we speak, so we do not trip over our own words.

Our Union with Father and Son

God is not as interested in what we do for Him, as He is in who we are in Him. A relationship is more important than a ministry (Matthew 22:36-40). It takes more time and effort, but worth the price.

Our human achievements do not impress Him and do not aid in our relationship or walk with Him. If what we do is not motivated by God's Spirit and done with His fruit-filled attitude, it is better left undone.

We cannot control the thoughts and behavior of other people, although we often try desperately to do so. The only one we have influence over by God's Spirit's direction is our self.

It is important to keep our focus and priorities spiritually minded and not blanketed in carnality. This is only possible because Jesus purchased us by His blood and God adopted us His children (1 John 3:1; John 8:44; Ephesians 2:3).

God, being a Trinity in nature and function, is still one God (Deuteronomy 6:4). We are joint heirs with Jesus of all that belongs to our Heavenly Father, which is hard to completely comprehend (John 16:15).

Jesus has the same relationship with our Father that we have with Jesus - He is in us and we are in Him, just as God is in Jesus and Jesus is in God (John 10:38; John 14:10, 23).

Jesus loves us as much as the Father loves Him (John 15:9). The Father loves us too, because we love Jesus and believe that He came from God (John 16:27).

Prayer:

Father God, eternal life begins when we come to know You and Jesus whom You sent (John 17:3). We are in Christ; and therefore, in You (Romans 8:10-11). Jesus loves us even as You love Jesus (John 17:23). Jesus reveals You to whomever He chooses (Matthew 11:27). Through Jesus we have access to You at any time or place (Ephesians 2:18).

Jesus was with You before the world began (John 1:1-2). He made His appearance on the earth many times, even before Abraham was born (John 8:58). You and Jesus are one. Once we see Jesus, we have seen You (John 10:30, 14:5-14). We look forward in great anticipation to living throughout eternity with You.

Thought for the Day:

Jesus is in us, and the Father is in Jesus - so that we may be brought to complete unity as One Body; then the world will know that God sent Jesus into the world. 

- John 17:21; 1 Corinthians 1:30