Have you ever experienced emotions that you found terrifying? Most of us have, but it’s easy to think otherwise because we are usually loathe to discuss them even with the people we love. Often, when we are seized by strong feelings, especially negative ones like anger or hate, our instinct is to try and push them aside. This may be because we falsely imagine that we are the only ones who experience these feelings. At other times, we think it is unworthy, or even sinful, to have such emotions in the first place.
Our emotions are made in God’s image too
As Peter Scazzero writes, our emotions are an essential part of our God-given humanity. Just as God gave us the gift of reason as a tool to know Him, so He gave us emotions to connect to Him. Many people have a conception of God as an omnipotent robot coldly manipulating the knobs and buttons of the universe. The Bible presents a very different picture. God is depicted as experiencing joy, anger, love, jealousy, compassion: the full gamut of emotions. The Bible famously teaches us that we were created in God’s image. Our emotions are no exception.
The path to spiritual maturity
Emotions were given to us for a purpose. Like anything else in our fallen world, they can put to bad use. However, that certainly doesn’t mean we should try and ignore them. If we do that, we miss the chance to use our emotions to build friendships, marriages, families and communities. Moreover, our emotions are too powerful to be abolished, and the more we try to ignore them, the more they will break out when we are least able to deal with them. When it comes to both our power of reason and our emotions, the correct path is not repression, but expression, by developing and nurturing them in healthy directions. It takes bravery to approach our emotions and start the process of learning to understand them, but we reap the rewards in our relationships with each other, ourselves, and God. If you have emotions that frighten or confuse you, then contact me today to find out about how
If you have emotions that frighten or confuse you, then contact me today to find out about how Christian therapy can help you achieve emotional and spiritual maturity.