Emotional Health: Balancing Feelings and Faith

 

Summary

In our journey through the 50 days of transformation, we have explored various aspects of health, including spiritual, physical, and mental health. Today, we delve into emotional health, focusing on how to manage our emotions and deal with how we feel. Jesus emphasized the importance of loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, highlighting the emotional aspect of our relationship with Him. God desires a passionate, emotional relationship with us, not just a head knowledge of His existence.

Understanding emotions begins with recognizing that God Himself is an emotional being. Our ability to feel is a gift from God, reflecting His image in us. Emotions, both positive and negative, play a crucial role in our lives, enabling us to love, create, and connect with others. However, we must avoid the extremes of emotionalism, where feelings dominate our lives, and stoicism, where emotions are disregarded entirely. A balanced approach is essential, acknowledging the significance of both intellect and emotions.

The Bible, particularly the book of Psalms, provides a comprehensive guide to understanding and managing our emotions. Psalms encompass a wide range of emotions, from joy and gratitude to anger and sorrow, teaching us that all emotions are legitimate and given by God. To manage our emotions effectively, we must first recognize that our feelings are often unreliable and can lead us astray. We should not be manipulated by our emotions or allow them to control us, as this can hinder our relationship with God and our success in life.

To manage emotions, we must identify and name them, understanding their triggers and underlying causes. This self-awareness allows us to address emotions constructively, preventing them from controlling our actions and decisions. By aligning our emotions with God's will, we can live a life that pleases Him and fulfills our purpose.

Key Takeaways:

- God's Emotional Nature: God is an emotional being, and our emotions are a reflection of His image in us. Understanding that God experiences joy, grief, and love helps us appreciate the divine origin of our emotions and their role in our relationship with Him. [01:30]

- Avoiding Extremes: Emotionalism and stoicism are two extremes that can distort our emotional health. Emotionalism places undue emphasis on feelings, while stoicism dismisses them entirely. A balanced approach recognizes the importance of both emotions and intellect in our spiritual journey. [03:02]

- The Role of Psalms: The book of Psalms is a valuable resource for understanding and managing emotions. It encompasses a wide range of human emotions, teaching us that all feelings are legitimate and can be expressed to God. Engaging with Psalms can help us navigate our emotional landscape. [07:22]

- Unreliable Feelings: Our emotions can often be misleading, leading us in the wrong direction. It's crucial to recognize that not everything we feel is true or reliable. By questioning and examining our emotions, we can prevent them from dictating our actions and decisions. [09:42]

- Aligning with God's Will: To live a life that pleases God, we must manage our emotions and align them with His will. Allowing emotions to rule our lives can hinder our spiritual growth and success. By submitting our emotions to God, we can experience true peace and fulfillment. [18:25]

Youtube Chapters:

- [00:00] - Welcome
- [00:10] - Introduction to Emotional Health
- [00:40] - Loving God with Emotion
- [01:30] - God's Emotional Nature
- [02:19] - Emotions as a Gift
- [03:02] - Avoiding Emotional Extremes
- [05:28] - Worship and Emotion
- [07:22] - The Book of Psalms
- [09:42] - Unreliable Feelings
- [11:16] - Manipulation by Emotions
- [14:33] - Pleasing God with Emotions
- [15:39] - Success and Emotional Management
- [18:25] - Aligning Emotions with God's Will
- [19:11] - Naming and Identifying Emotions
- [24:45] - Triggers and Emotional Awareness

Study Guide

Bible Study Discussion Guide: Emotional Health

Bible Reading:
1. Mark 12:29-30
2. Genesis 1:26
3. Proverbs 14:12

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Observation Questions:

1. According to Mark 12:29-30, what does Jesus say is the most important commandment, and how does it relate to our emotions? [00:40]

2. How does Genesis 1:26 explain the origin of our emotions, and what does it mean to be made in God's image? [02:49]

3. What are the two extremes in dealing with emotions mentioned in the sermon, and how do they differ? [03:02]

4. How does the book of Psalms serve as a guide for understanding and managing our emotions? [07:22]

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Interpretation Questions:

1. In what ways does understanding that God is an emotional being influence our perception of our own emotions? [01:30]

2. How can the extremes of emotionalism and stoicism impact a person's spiritual journey, and why is a balanced approach important? [03:02]

3. What role do the Psalms play in helping believers express and manage their emotions, and why is it important to recognize all emotions as legitimate? [07:22]

4. How can recognizing the unreliability of our feelings help us in making decisions that align with God's will? [09:42]

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Application Questions:

1. Reflect on a recent situation where your emotions led you in the wrong direction. How could you have managed your emotions differently to align with God's will? [09:57]

2. Identify an emotion that you often struggle with. What steps can you take to name and understand this emotion better? [19:11]

3. Consider a time when you allowed your emotions to dominate your decisions. How did it affect your relationship with God and others? What can you do to prevent this in the future? [14:48]

4. How can you incorporate the practice of reading Psalms into your daily routine to help manage your emotions? [07:34]

5. Think about a person or situation that triggers strong emotions in you. What practical steps can you take to address these triggers constructively? [23:45]

6. How can you ensure that your emotions do not become an idol in your life, overshadowing your relationship with God? [07:05]

7. What specific actions can you take this week to align your emotions with God's will, especially in challenging situations? [18:25]

Devotional

Day 1: Embracing God's Emotional Nature
Understanding that God is an emotional being helps us appreciate the divine origin of our emotions. Our ability to feel is a reflection of His image in us, and this understanding deepens our relationship with Him. Emotions such as joy, grief, and love are not just human experiences but are shared by God Himself. Recognizing this can transform how we view our emotional experiences, seeing them as a bridge to connect more deeply with God. By acknowledging God's emotional nature, we can cultivate a more passionate and heartfelt relationship with Him, moving beyond mere intellectual acknowledgment of His existence. [01:30]

"The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing." (Zephaniah 3:17, ESV)

Reflection: How can recognizing God's emotional nature change the way you express your emotions to Him in prayer today?


Day 2: Finding Balance Between Emotionalism and Stoicism
Emotional health requires a balanced approach, avoiding the extremes of emotionalism and stoicism. Emotionalism places undue emphasis on feelings, allowing them to dominate our lives, while stoicism dismisses emotions entirely, leading to a lack of emotional engagement. A balanced approach acknowledges the importance of both emotions and intellect in our spiritual journey. By integrating our emotional experiences with our intellectual understanding of God, we can navigate our spiritual path more effectively, ensuring that neither emotions nor intellect overshadow the other. This balance allows us to live a more holistic and fulfilling spiritual life. [03:02]

"Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones." (Proverbs 3:7-8, ESV)

Reflection: In what areas of your life do you tend to lean towards emotionalism or stoicism, and how can you seek a more balanced approach today?


Day 3: Learning from the Psalms
The book of Psalms is a rich resource for understanding and managing our emotions. It encompasses a wide range of human emotions, from joy and gratitude to anger and sorrow, teaching us that all feelings are legitimate and can be expressed to God. Engaging with the Psalms can help us navigate our emotional landscape, providing a model for how to bring our emotions before God honestly and openly. By studying the Psalms, we learn that God welcomes our emotional expressions and desires us to bring our whole selves to Him, including our emotional experiences. [07:22]

"Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God." (Psalm 42:11, ESV)

Reflection: Choose a Psalm that resonates with your current emotional state. How can you use it as a prayer to express your feelings to God today?


Day 4: Recognizing the Unreliability of Feelings
Our emotions can often be misleading, leading us in the wrong direction. It's crucial to recognize that not everything we feel is true or reliable. By questioning and examining our emotions, we can prevent them from dictating our actions and decisions. This self-awareness allows us to address emotions constructively, ensuring they do not control us or hinder our relationship with God. By aligning our emotions with God's truth, we can live a life that pleases Him and fulfills our purpose. [09:42]

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds." (Jeremiah 17:9-10, ESV)

Reflection: Think of a recent situation where your emotions led you astray. How can you seek God's truth to guide your feelings and actions today?


Day 5: Aligning Emotions with God's Will
To live a life that pleases God, we must manage our emotions and align them with His will. Allowing emotions to rule our lives can hinder our spiritual growth and success. By submitting our emotions to God, we can experience true peace and fulfillment. This alignment requires intentionality and prayer, seeking God's guidance in understanding and directing our emotional responses. By doing so, we can ensure that our emotions serve God's purposes and contribute to our spiritual development. [18:25]

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6, ESV)

Reflection: What is one emotion you struggle to align with God's will? How can you invite God into this area of your life today to seek His guidance and peace?

Quotes


Jesus is saying I don't want you to kind of love me I don't want you kind of love God I want you to love God passionately with all your heart all your soul all your mind and all your strength God wants an emotional relationship with you he doesn't want a head knowledge yeah I know Jesus I know God blah blah blah blah blah blah I want an emotional passionate relationship that is full of feelings. [00:00:58]

God has emotions many people don't realize this God has feelings God is an emotional God God feels Joy he feels grief he feels pain he feels hatred towards sin he has frustration with the people around him just like like you do and God has emotions the only reason you have emotions is because you're made in God's image if God wasn't an emotional God you wouldn't have emotions. [00:01:35]

There are two extremes that you need to avoid in dealing with emotions and one is called emotionalism and the other is called stoicism let me explain these to you emotionalism means all that matters is how I feel emotionalism is the the extreme of saying the only thing that matters in life is how I feel doesn't matter what I think doesn't matter what's right or wrong doesn't matter what's popular or unpopular good or bad what only matters is do what you feel and if it feels good do it. [00:03:05]

The Bible tells us that God gave us the book of Psalms in in order to understand our emotions and if you have a hard time with some emotions in your life you need to spend a lot of time in the Book of Psalms Psalms has every emotion known to man in it the good ones and the bad ones the positive and the negative you read some of those psalms you think why is this chapter in the Bible it's there to teach you about even those negative emotions because not all Psalms are about praise and thanksgiving. [00:07:24]

My feelings are often unreliable my feelings are often unreliable they can lead you in the wrong direction how many many times have you thought I know this is the right thing to do I just feel it in my gut and you do it and it doesn't work out every one of us have done that your gut is often wrong your intuition is often flawed your emotions often lead you down a blind alley you can't depend on everything you feel. [00:09:42]

If you don't control your emotions they will control you and you will be manipulated by your moods and if you're always Guided by your feelings rather than by what's right by your commitments by the truth if you're always Guided by feelings other people are going to take advantage of you they're going to they're going to take advantage of you in fact salesmen and advertisers are trained in how to stir up your emotions because they know that if they can get you hooked emotionally they're going to buy the product. [00:11:16]

God cannot be God in my life if emotions are God in my life God can't rule my life if my emotions rule my life Jesus can't be Lord of my life if my emotions are my Lord of my if I make all my decision simply based on how I feel then I've made my feelings God and then God can't be God the Bible says in Romans 86 to8 to be controlled by human nature results in death but to be controlled by the spirit results in life and peace. [00:14:33]

I need to manage my emotions because I want to please God I don't want to just know that my feelings are unreliable and I I I know that I don't want to be manipulated by other people or by my old nature or by the devil but I also want to please God and God cannot be God in my life if emotions are God in my life God can't rule my life if my emotions rule my life. [00:15:39]

Study after study after study has shown that your EQ is more important than your IQ that for success in business emotional quotient is far more important than your intelligence quotient your IQ isn't nearly a lot of people don't have a high IQ very successful in life but they've got good smarts in dealing with their emotions they've got good smarts and dealing with how they feel and as a result they're people people they know how to how to get along with others. [00:15:39]

When you give your heart to Jesus that includes your emotions So when you say I gave my heart to Jesus you gave your emotions to him to be managed by him because the heart is the seat of your emotions and Jesus wants to be a lord of how you feel not just what you think and what you do he wants to be Lord of your emotions in fact the Bible says this to Believers 1 Peter 4:2 from now on you must live the rest of your lives rest of your Earthly lives controlled by God's will not by human desires. [00:18:25]

The first thing you got to do in dealing with an emotion is you must name it you must name it what does that mean I've got to identify it I've got to be specific I've got to pinpoint exactly what it is you can't manage a vague feeling you can only change control manage something that you have identified and if you don't know what the problem is in your life then you certainly can't work on it. [00:19:11]

If you can't name it you can't change it you got to you got to name it first Sometimes I feel like David Psalm 552 look here on the screen he says my thoughts are restless and I'm confused well that's the way we are a lot of times about our our uh our feelings we're we're confused and so you want to ask a couple questions write these two questions down this is the first step to managing your emotions to becoming an emotionally strong man to becom an emotionally strong woman. [00:24:45]

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Transcript
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