30 Days of Truth

Day 26 – emotions reflect the heart

This is the shortest scripture in the Bible, and yet no matter how many times I read it, it continues to be a powerful statement about Jesus.

Jesus was not only God made flesh, but He was also human!

He experienced the human condition without the tragedy of experiencing our sinful nature.

He was happy just like we are happy.

He was angry about injustice and those things which kept people in both physical and spiritual bondage.

He was kind and generous.

He was sad and He wept, just as we do when we are sad.

People have often asked, “Why did Jesus weep, when He knew that He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead?”

He wept because He empathized with those that had experienced the death of Lazarus, and their emotions touched Him profoundly.

He wept because they had lost hope when they expected Jesus to arrive on the scene in time to heal Lazarus, but He didn’t come.

Even though Jesus knew He would be able to raise Lazarus from the dead, Lazarus’s loved ones had experienced a great loss.

It is important for us to recognize the human expression of Jesus.

We sometimes imagine a Jesus that never got frustrated or angry or sad because we only see a glimpse of His life in the Gospels.

Nevertheless, the scriptures that we do have about Jesus show a complex individual that experienced the complexity of human emotions.

Jesus got angry, but He didn’t sin.

When a parent scolds a child, they don’t stop loving the child, but they are upset because the child is not obedient or is doing something that is dangerous. Their love for the child is constant and everlasting despite their momentary emotional state.

It is taught in some Christian circles that we are to be passive and peaceful. While peace should always be our goal in anything that we say and do, being peaceful and passive is not something that we learn from Jesus.

Jesus was bold and made no excuses for His beliefs.

He didn’t shy away from intellectual confrontations, and He didn’t restrain from using harsh language at times.

Christians that believe in such a passive lifestyle are often weak in the faith and are trod upon by anyone that disagrees with them.

Their beliefs are half-hearted, and they tend to change with whichever way the wind/trend is blowing.

We must stand firm in our beliefs without wavering, and we cannot be passive.

Let’s review:

Having emotions is not sinful.

Being angry is not sinful in and of itself.

It is how we express emotions that reveals the state of our heart.

If our heart is overflowing with Godly intentions and meditations, our emotions should reveal love, even through occasional anger.

If our heart is sidetracked from meditating on God and His Word, our emotions can be particularly damaging to both others and to ourselves.

We cannot control our emotions or our tongue without first dealing with the intentions of our heart.

That is why keeping our mind and focus steadfast upon God is so important.

When we operate under a renewed heart/soul/mind, our emotions should reflect that renewed nature.

People often say, “That person makes me so angry!”

Really?

Jesus said that it is what comes out of our heart that defiles us.

No one can “make” you angry, or “make” you sin.

Self-control is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. If you have accepted Christ as your Savior, you have the Holy Spirit living in you!

A lack of self-control reveals the need to retrain our focus on Christ and allow the Holy Spirit to change our responses and habits.

Who we are in Christ is wrapped up in who Christ is in us, and Christ not only understands but expressed the same emotions that we have.

As believers, we should not fear our emotions, but we must learn to control them. Emotions do not define or change who you are in Christ.

We must not get caught up in worrying about showing emotion, or what other people might think about us. People want someone who can empathize with their situation, not someone that appears unemotional and callous.

God is not angry with us, nor will Ge ever be angry with us again, because there is peace between God and man through Christ Jesus.

We may lose our temper, and we may fail to forgive, but God has chosen to forgive us in advance and forget that we ever sinned.

God created emotions, but while we may experience emotions that are not “lovely”, God IS LOVE!

God IS Love!

He IS the most perfect, beautiful, passionate, head-over-heels lover of our souls!

He is not willing that any should perish.

He does not steal from us, kill us or destroy us.

He does not afflict us with sickness or allow suffering to come upon us.

God loves us with an everlasting love.

He wants the best for us, always!