Mastering Our Emotions Using God’s Word
Mastering Our Emotions Using God’s Word
Psalms 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.
Proverbs 18:10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous runs into it and is safe.
When we have not felt safe, and when we are hurt, our natural reaction is to want to hurt those who hurt us, many of us have experienced this our first reaction should be “let me turn to God’s Word for an answer”. Often our emotions get out of hand because we are facing situations which we have never been taught how to handle. In this world today there are difficulties we face that are new to us all. These situations can bring on emotions which can spill out into the public arena because we have access to the minds of everyone who speaks our language through various apps on the internet. Negativity and selfishness can cause havoc in our lives and the lives of others.
Raging emotions. Raging emotions are often leading us to sinful responses against God and others! It isn’t wrong to feel angry, but it is wrong to retaliate, to try to hurt others because they hurt you. It’s such a fight not to let rage rule you, not to let anger control us!
Ephesians 4:26-27 And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.
When the devil has a foothold of anger in our minds, he has various tactics to use to increase that offence or anger we feel towards either a situation or someone, and make it grow into rage. The next step is seeds of bitterness are planted and they grow and become a Root of Bitterness. This steals our love, joy and peace. So how do we keep our joy and peace from being stolen away from us?
John 10:9-11 Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.
One of the secrets we need to learn lies in understanding this:
Laying down our feelings on the altar of God produces healthier feelings. Jesus laid down His life for us, we can lay down our negative feelings for Him.
When I surrender control of my emotions, a better type of feeling wells up deep within my soul. Choosing to lay negative, wrathful, angry and revengeful feelings down is pleasing to God because it is an act of worship. Even our bodies become healthier when we have positive rather than negative feelings.
Romans 12:1 So, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice, the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him.
God communicates to us that He is pleased with our desire not to sin—not only in words from His Word, but with a deep sense of His presence. Let me clarify something here. We shouldn’t relinquish control to get better feelings. Feeling good should never be the goal. Feeling and accessing God’s love, joy and peace should be the goal. However, good relationships involve both giving and receiving. God loves to give and shower blessings upon His obedient children! God always fulfills His part of the relationship perfectly. Couldn’t we do the same, by giving up our old ways of handling emotions as an act of worship and sacrificial love? Jesus is worthy of it.
When we surrender control to the Holy Spirit, God can then manifest Himself in and through us. What results is feeling the way God wants us to feel, we feel good, but it is more than that. In fact, these good feelings are more than just emotions. They are a by-product of abiding in Christ, in His love which will grow and overflow in your life and spill onto those around you plus you will grow and share in the fruit of the Holy Spirit. God tells us in His word how important positive feelings are and how He wants His joy in us:
John 15:11-12 I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.
John 13:34 A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another.
John 15:17 This is My command to you: Love one another.
1 John 3:11 This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
1 John 3:23 And this is His commandment: that we should believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and we should love one another just as He commanded us.
Galatians 5:22-23 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
The Lord gives us these wonderful “feelings” to help us do, and keep doing, the right thing, especially when it’s tough.
Nothing pleases me more than knowing I’ve put a smile on my Saviour’s face. That certainly wasn’t true in the beginning of my walk with Jesus. But the more I grew in my knowledge and understanding of God, the more awesome and important He became to me. The more I realized my own sinfulness and unworthiness next to His holiness, the more my love for Him grew. And therefore, the more I wanted to please and obey Him.
Obedience is more important to God than Sacrifice – the Sacrifice God wants from us is to do His Word in love towards others.
As I attempted to humble myself more and more, God showed Himself to me—not just with deeper knowledge of Him, but also with His presence and everything it entails. His revelation caused me to become more humble, and more mindful of how far I fall short of His glory and how incredibly privileged I am as one of His children! It’s a beautiful cycle. We all need to get into that cycle of moving from selfishness to having the same heart as Jesus. This is a process growing in love towards our God and then letting that love flow out to those around us.
God has converted my selfish heart to one of believing I can influence others by bringing and showing His love.
So, my friends, when you’re feeling overwhelmed, imagine placing all your negative feelings on the altar as an act of worship (ideally before you transgress). God will bless you with greater feelings! It will be worthwhile because He is worth it! As a result, in light of God’s kindness, I implore you to present your bodies [including emotions] as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. Romans 12:1. How has my change of heart helped me? Love, peace and joy are following me around daily and my home and my relationships reflect onto everyone I have contact with the fruit which we can all feed on – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. It is the best diet anyone can have. Bless you all for reading this!