We’ve all experienced our own emotional highs and lows. Feelings of euphoria and joy can move us in one direction, while feelings of shame and anger move us in the opposite direction; these can powerfully affect our outlook on life. God gave us emotions as a blessing, but we must be careful because they have the potential to take control of our lives. Thankfully, if we’ve been born again, we’ve been given authority over our emotions.
What we expose ourselves to determines how we think. How we think determines how we feel; our feelings determine our decisions, which in turn control our actions. When we expose ourselves to the Word of Grace, we’re reminded that we’re in control, not our emotions. Without our God-given self-control, we’re like a city broken into and left without walls.
We’ve been delivered from the curses of depression, rejection, shame, fear, inferiority, and every other negative emotion. As free moral agents, we can choose not to become trapped in them, but to choose joy instead. The joy of the Lord is our strength; therefore, he that is slow to anger is better than the mighty.
The sign of true strength is the ability to maintain emotional control when others lose their tempers. A wrathful man stirs up strife, but he that is slow to anger appeases strife. As believers, we’ve been made righteous, but the wrath of man doesn’t produce the righteousness of God.
We are spirits living in physical bodies and possessing souls, which is where our emotions reside. God’s will is for us to be healthy and prosperous in all things, just as our souls prosper. To prosper is to be whole; God wants wholeness for us on every level, including in our emotions. Understanding this and agreeing with it allows us to maintain emotional control.
Prayer:
Lord, You blessed us with feelings; You also gave us the ability to take charge of them. Understanding Your Word in this area allows us to rule over our emotions and not allow them to sweep us away and ruin our lives. Thank You for giving us authority in this realm. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Scriptures:
Proverbs 25:28
Nehemiah 8:10
Proverbs 16:32
Proverbs 15:18
James 1:20, NKJV
3 John 1:2