Title:

Managing Your Emotions

Objective:

To understand emotions.

What:

What are emotions?

¹Emotions: internal feelings caused by pain or pleasure designed to move you to another place; [1]² to move; ³ to stir up

Synonym = feelings

Why:

Why should we manage our emotions?

To think clearly in situations

·        Psalm 94:12-13 (amplified)    

To not be in bondage to our emotions

·        Proverbs 25:28

·        Proverbs 16:32

Uncontrolled emotions hinder our spiritual maturity

·        1 Corinthians 3:1-3 (amplified)

How:

How do we manage our emotions?

First:

Acknowledge your feelings

·        Mark 14:34-36(amplified)

·        Jesus acknowledged the fact that His soul was exceeding sorrowful (KJV)

Be honest with God about how you are feeling

·        Mark 14:35-36

·        Jesus told God how he was feeling

·        1 Peter 5:7

Second:

Focus on the truth of God’s Word not the facts of the situation

·        John 8:31-32

Recognize that our feelings are not necessarily the reality

·        Sometimes we fear what may happen in the future: "if I don’t pay this bill by Wednesday, they will turn off my gas.”  That fear is a real emotion based on a fact; however, that is not necessarily the reality.  Today is Monday, you don’t yet know how God will deliver you from that situation, yet your emotion of fear will cause you to move from faith in God, to trying to figure out how to handle the situation yourself.

Stay in faith

·        Galatians 3:11

Conclusion:

We are created as tri-part beings and our emotions were given to us by God.  There is no such thing as good and bad emotions, just correct and incorrect responses to those emotions.  Oftentimes we allow situations and circumstances in our lives to stir us up and move us away from the will of God rather than towards the will of God.    In the heat of a moment, it is good to first calm down and then make a decision about our next action.

Our lives should be in balance in all areas, we are Spirit beings that possess a soul and live in a body.  At no time should the body or soul rule over our Spirit, for greater is He (God, Who is Spirit) Who is in us than he that is in this world (1 Corinthians 6:19).

Definitions taken from:

Greek lexicon based on Thayer's and Smith's Bible Dictionary plus others; this is keyed to the large Kittel and the "Theological Dictionary of the New Testament." These files are public domain.

Merriam Webster Online Dictionary