Emotions

Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”
 
We all have feelings that run wild. Some of us are stoics and we don't like to admit our feelings. Whenever one tries to break loose, we squish it down again. Others of us are “emoters.” We don't just embrace our feelings: our feelings control us.

Both extremes are wrong.

God designed humanity to have feelings. They are thermostats to our hearts’ conditions, to the state of our relationships with God, and to the state of our relationships with each other. Those of us who are stoics are denying how God has made us, and we are refusing to use a valuable tool He has given us.

However, because of the Fall and the subsequent depravity of man, we cannot fully trust our hearts or the feelings that come from them. Our emotions will lead us astray if we allow them to control us. Those of us who have a tendency to be controlled by emotion, need to temper that emotion with truth.

So, how do we use emotions correctly?

First, we need to identify the feeling. Feelings are no use to us if we do not identify them. They let us know what is going on around us or inside us, or at least, what is perceived to be going on.

Second, we explore why we have that feeling. Feelings do not happen in a vacuum. They come because a situation, whether in the present or in the past, has prompted them. Someone did, said, or insinuated something, or a circumstance happened that affected us in a specific way.

Third, we need to weigh the truth we are believing. Feelings lead us to what we believe. Often our emotions are responding to a lie that we believe. 

Fourth, we can then speak truth. This is an essential step. If we are believing a lie, we can preach truth to ourselves, furthering our maturity. 

No matter if our emotions are based on truth or a lie, we should let our Christian community know what is going on. Even if we are believing a lie, our Christian friends need to know the feelings we are working through, especially if our feeling stems from what someone else has done. This is part of the process of reconciliation.