In Your Feelings: A Guide To Understanding Emotions

Robots, commandeered by computers and codes, used to be central to science fiction films, hinting at the mystery of an unknown future. Nowadays, those same elements of technology are a regular part of our lives and worlds. Machines mimic many of our daily seen and unseen tasks and processes.

The difference between humanity and our tech toys is that we were made in the image of a perfect God and loving Father. However, because of our sin, we are not perfect ourselves. Advancements abound all around us, but a robot does not experience the complexity of emotions as does the human soul.

Emotions seem inconvenient and appear to complicate parts of our lives. God knew what He was doing when He crafted and shaped us into His likeness. He fused emotion into our makeup to enhance and elevate what could have otherwise been a dull life experience.

In the soul, we experience spiritual warfare, where demonic forces operate against us to infiltrate our minds and emotions with the enemy’s lies. The internal battle characterizes a struggle between good and evil, even within the realm of our thoughts and feelings. When we experience internal turmoil, God invites us to come to Him and walk by the Spirit instead of living as a prisoner in our feelings.

The culture conflict

When it comes to emotions, culture hovers between extremes. In some instances, the world encourages us to hide vulnerabilities behind the visage of platitudes, stifling or misrepresenting what we feel. We may demonstrate bias, permitting some while restricting others from expressing emotion.

Historically, we have associated emotional expression with weakness, discouraging boys and men from conveying their emotions and advising them to “keep a stiff upper lip” or “never let them see you sweat.” In another sense, we permit girls and women to have feelings, yet we dismiss their valid thoughts and experiences when we casually shrug away their concerns as “just being emotional.”

This presents a conflict. Society maintains a set of imbalanced rules governing emotional expression, and it isn’t just the bias toward or against men and women. Sometimes, our media sources give a nod of approval for our emotions to control us.

When we say whatever we think, based on cavalier whims, we don’t consider the long-term or widespread impact of our words. Furthermore, when we act out or remain in our feelings, we absolve ourselves of accountability, deflecting the responsibility that comes with having the freedom to express what we feel.

Understanding God’s heart for emotions

God has crafted and shaped us in His image. Part of expressing His nature in the earth is not only being able to express ourselves but also to honor God and others as we do. Everything that we feel may be real, but it may not necessarily be rightly aligned with God’s Heart. God welcomes us to bring everything to Him, to reason and exchange our short-sightedness for His vision. Our human judgment cannot determine what we need God’s Word and Spirit to discern.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. – Hebrews 4:12, ESV

With the wonder of His Majesty, we sometimes view our Father through a one-dimensional lens. God is not an angry deity, waiting to pin us to the earth with lightning bolts. The Bible offers a more complex view. Though He experiences anger and grief, He also expresses joy, delight, and satisfaction. He never intended for our relationship to be limited to a few snapshots from various places in the written pages of the Word.

Jesus is the Living Word, who put on flesh. He became human to reconcile us with the Father. God put “skin in the game,” sealing His covenant with us by the blood of His one and only Son. When we consider that He placed His Holy Spirit in us as a treasure to comfort and keep us until we are presented to the Lord, face-to-face and fully redeemed. We must know that God esteems us with immeasurable worth.

Unpacking uncomfortable emotions

Introspection

Too often, our view of our value is clouded over with demonic deception that masquerades as thoughts and feelings to hide and cover. The enemy of our souls would want to persuade us, as he did with Adam and Eve, that we ought to run and retreat from God when we experience emotions that seem too uncomfortable to address.

Scripture has identified the devil as the father of lies with no new strategies (John 8:44). We have God’s Holy Presence, empowering us to confront and acknowledge our thoughts and emotions as we submit them to the Lord. When we recognize the tactics of the enemy, we do not have to allow our minds and emotions to succumb to his devices; but rather stand against him with spiritual weapons (Ephesians 6:13).

Invite

We can bring our emotions to the Holy Spirit, to redeem and provide revelation. There is no shame in having uncomfortable feelings such as anger, embarrassment, or hurt. They can invite us to encounter intimacy with God in fresh ways.

Our Father delights when we bring our complete selves to Him, emotions included. Whether they seem more acceptable such as happiness or surprise, or less so such as envy or intimidation, God sees and knows them all and will use them to accomplish His aims.

Integrate

As believers, we have not always afforded much credence to the important role of emotions in our lives. As we begin to understand the value and function of our emotions, it becomes more apparent that our emotional health is an integral part of our spirituality.

The fruit of the Spirit reflects elements of a healthy soul, inclusive of our mind and emotions (Galatians 5:22-23). Those traits are part of God’s character, and how we cultivate them in our own lives can enhance our emotional well-being. When we consider this, even in our imperfect state and emotions that don’t always reflect His Heart, we don’t have to be afraid of what we feel.

God: His image, our example

Our Father has made us in His Image, and like Him, we reflect His intellect, and creativity (Genesis 1:27). Sometimes, as believers, we become more focused on His holiness than receiving His compassion.

Whether we are reading about the Father, our Savior, or the Holy Spirit, each part of His nature expresses emotion in Scripture. We sometimes miss that and don’t perceive that God will help us navigate the complexities of our emotions through our relationship with Him.

Jesus came to earth as a man, yet He did not sin (Hebrews 4:15). Even as He experienced the full range of all we feel, He alone is Perfect. Although we may act out of emotion to do what doesn’t reflect God’s Heart, the Spirit of Christ works in us to change our hearts and intentions.

We are made faultless, not by our ability to demonstrate impulse control, but rather by the atoning blood of Christ. The Father does not see us through the filter of good behavior but through the lens of Christ’s offering.

Because of Jesus, we can come to God with all that we feel, no matter how deplorable, without fear of punishment. He invites us to come boldly and frequently (Hebrews 4:16). In that secret place of refuge, we encounter rest from burdens and exchange them for ease (Psalm 91:1; Matthew 11:28-30). As we submit our lives to the Lord, we find the grace to transform and evolve into the original masterpiece that He created (Romans 12:1-2; Ephesians 2:10).

Next steps for better understanding emotions

Consider the misinformation about emotions that has influenced your expression and experiences. While you may have been conflicted about the role of emotions in your life, please know that it is important to understand this part of yourself.

Acknowledge, even celebrate that the God who Himself has emotions, reflected this part of His nature in you. How you engage with Him, yourself, and others can be productive and positive as you heal from harmful incidents that may have colored your view of emotions.

Reach out to me or another counselor in our online counselor directory and schedule an appointment to help you with embracing, expressing, and understanding your emotions.