Emotions

First let me start out by saying that some emotions are not a bad thing. God gives us feelings. He experiences them too. Yet, we have to be careful that we use these emotions in a holy way. God is still sovereign even when he experiences emotions.

For the LORD your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; otherwise the anger of the LORD your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth. Deuteronomy 6:15

Jealous? Anger? Sovereign? Yeah right you might say, but understand what this verse talking about. God’s jealousy is not like ours. I love the song “How He Loves Us.” This song’s lyrics states, “He is jealous for me.” He wants us. He made us, redeemed us, showed us grace and mercy, and he simply wants us to serve him. Wow. You? A sinner who has fallen short of the creator’s glory time after time? Yes. God wants you. That is his jealousy: it’s an intense desire for us. Our jealousy is explained as an emotion typically referred to the negative thoughts and feeling of insecurity, fear, and anxiety as according to Wikipedia.  The Tenth Commandment declares that we should not covet. We may covet our peers belongings and let that stew into jealousy. God doesn't want that for us. Our jealousy is an example of a bad emotion.

Now, the verse above explains how God in his anger will pretty much take you off the face of the earth. Looking further into the contexts of this chapter reveals that God wanted the Israelites (and us too) to serve the him and him only. His anger relates to his jealousy for us. “’You shall not put the LORD your God to the test…You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God…’” Deuteronomy 6:16-17.  God’s anger is just. He created us to serve him and that is exactly what we are supposed to do, if we don’t serve him then he has the right to wipe us out if he so pleases. 


While God  allows us to experience emotions through our free will,  we must not let some emotions take root like lust (Matthew 5:28) or jealousy. The Bible gives us instructions on what to do with our ill emotions. Take for example some of the things the Bible says about anger: Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Ephesians 4:26. God gets us. He’s not an unfeeling God who sits up in Heaven emotionless. He understands that we may become angry, but he gives us guidelines on what to do to get that emotion in check. 

It is okay to have certain emotions but it is what you do with them that can make or break you.  Ecclesiastics 3 declares that there is a season for everything, but be mindful that we may live in that season for too long. If you’re angry for too long and don’t follow the guidelines in Ephesians 4:26 or Matthew 5:21-26 it can grow into deep seeds of bitterness. Take for example sadness, if you are sad for too long it can lead to depression which can lead to suicide. The devil wants to take our emotions and twist them. He is the ultimate deceiver. He will lie to us so that he can try to build strongholds in our life. 

Go ahead! Experience the positive emotions freely! When negative emotions try to rise up, get them back into alignment with God’s will. If you struggle with getting your emotions in line, give them to Jesus.

 Psalm 55:22 Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved. 

Blessings!