Have you ever been in a situation where someone makes you so angry you could punch them? I am sure we all have. Hopefully you haven’t acted on that emotion! We all have emotions. The question is, “Are emotions good or bad?”
Well, both…
Whenever you have a question like this, always go back to the Word of God. What does the Bible say about emotions? You can find that out here. When you look at the Bible, we find that not only do people have emotions, we see that God does too. God feels anger and compassion and love and heartbreak. So they can’t be all bad, right?
What about Jesus. Did Jesus have emotions? He got pretty angry at the religious people who were selling sacrifices at the temple. The shortest verse in the Bible is “Jesus wept.” So he was obviously sad. He was moved with compassion for people. Jesus experienced emotions.
So then what do we say about emotions? Good or bad? You can identify whether your emotions are good or bad based on what happens next, right after you experience that emotion. Every time Jesus felt an emotion, it led to godly action. When he was angry, he restored the integrity of the temple. When he was sad, he raised Lazarus from the dead. When he had compassion, he ministered to the people. And when he was overwhelmed with dread in the garden, he committed to doing God’s will no matter what.
Ask yourself, “When I experience an emotion, is what happens as a result godly or not?”
Your emotions are God-given, but they are intended to indicate your next steps, not dictate your next steps. Your fleshly emotions should never dictate your actions. That’s how you get fleshly responses. Your flesh gets angry, and if you let the flesh dictate your response, you sin in your anger. This is a misuse of emotions. Your fleshly emotions are indicators of a godly action you need to take. That is how Jesus used emotions.
When you experience emotions, be sure to look for a godly action step to follow. By doing so, you will using your emotions the way God intended. Emotions are a tool in your belt to spur you into holy action, not an excuse to respond to a situation in the flesh.
As Christians, we strive to be Christ-like. Let’s do that in our emotions too.
“The person who trusts me will not only do what I’m doing but even greater things…” John 14:11-14 MSG (Translation: Jesus used emotions properly. We can too!)
Be blessed!
J