Part of the uniqueness of the human experience is the wide range of emotions that God enabled us to feel. When there are small delights, we have pleasant responses. In great moments, we rejoice. When something goes wrong, we feel disappointment, but when tragedy strikes we grieve deeply. God even gave humanity empathy, the ability to feel with others and come alongside them in times of joy and times of pain.
Emotions are a way of cueing people into what is going on in their spirit. God gave people emotions, in part because humans are made in His image, and He has emotions.
“Thus shall my anger spend itself, and I will vent my fury upon them and satisfy myself. And they shall know that I am the Lord — that I have spoken in my jealousy — when I spend my fury upon them” (Ezekiel 5:13).
“Seeing the people, [Jesus] felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36).
For the unbeliever, their emotions can be one of the biggest obstacles to approaching the throne of God in repentance and beginning a saving relationship with Him. Whether that is pride, believing their sins should not be seen as wrong, misplaced anger at God for bad things happening in the world, or through excessive pleasure in sinful acts, emotions are a barrier. They prevent people from seeing God’s goodness, the evil of their own sin, or both.
One of the most crucial ways that emotions influence people is within their personal relationships. Healthy emotions expressed appropriately can bring people closer together; sinful emotions or right emotions expressed in a sinful or unproductive way, can create divides between people. In the church, it can be particularly dangerous because it can lead to splits and fracturing between believers.
Genesis 16: Sara was so insecure about her ability to have children she encouraged Abram to have a child out of wedlock, and then persecuted her servant Hagar out of jealousy because she bore Abram a child.
Genesis 20: Abram was fearful for his life and lied to a ruler who had allowed him to stay in his land safely, saying that Sara was only his sister, not his wife.
Genesis 39: Potiphar’s wife lusted after Joseph and when he refused to engage with her, she lied out of anger, ruining the relationship Joseph had with Potiphar and sending the young man to jail for years.
1 Samuel 19-22: King Saul was so jealous of David he tried to have the young man killed.
John 18:1-11: Peter was so wrathful and inappropriately protective of Jesus that he cut off a servant’s ear.
Acts 7:54-60: The people in Jerusalem were so enraged when Stephen gave a sermon, they killed him.
The word Christian means “little Christ.” When a powerful emotion hits a believer, the first thing they should do is see if there is an example of Jesus experiencing that same emotion, and how He handled it. The caveat to that idea is that Jesus is God, and He had authority to act in ways that we do not. When Jesus was rightly angered by the selling of animals in the temple, as Lord of the Sabbath, He had the right to drive them out the way He did.
Matthew 26:36-46: He was upset at the difficulty of the crucifixion.
Luke 17:1-3: He was angered at the thought of children being led to sin.
John 7:12-15: He rejoiced at the idea of the Holy Spirit being with the disciples.
John 11: He wept when Lazarus died.
Keep your mind focused on God and He will give you peace to manage your emotions.
Isaiah 26:3 - “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”
Do not act on anger, especially out of revenge, because retribution against those who have done wrong is a right only God has.
Romans 12:12-19 - “Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord’”
Cultivate the fruit of the Spirit through prayer, Bible reading, and intentionality, which will help you control sinful passions and express emotions in a healthy way.
Galatians 5:22-24 - “ But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
Do not be afraid, and do not let the emotion of fear control your behavior, because it leads to a lack of self-control.
1 Timothy 1:6-7 - “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”
Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2006.
Passions of the Christ: The Emotional Life of Jesus in the Gospels
Jesus’ Emotions in the Fourth Gospel
He is a cross pendant.
He is engraved with a unique Number.
He will mail it out from Jerusalem.
He will be sent to your Side.
Emmanuel
Bible Verses About Welcoming ImmigrantsEmbracing the StrangerAs we journey through life, we often encounter individuals who are not of our nationality......
Who We AreWhat We EelieveWhat We Do
2025 by lntellectual Reserve,Inc All rights reserved.
