Humans and emotions

I have always been an emotional person. Every thing that happens near me stimulates my feelings and creates a wave of sensations within me that makes many moments an unforgettable experience, whether it is diving from a cliff into a mountain lake or holding someone's sleeping baby in my arms. But sometimes my emotions become so strong that they literally sweep me off my feet, making me sick with worries, or boiling with rage, or mortally terrified. Where would one draw a line between "good" and "evil" in emotions, and how can we sanctify them in line with God's Word? I really want to share my opinion with you! :)

Let's first look at this question: what emotions are bad and what are good? It is best to answer this question from the biblical perspective. Is God capable of feeling and experiencing emotions? Yes, sure He is. Is God ever happy? Yes - look at e.g. Zephaniah 3:17, there God rejoices about His own people Israel. Is God ever sad? Yes - that too! Read Ephesians 4:30. Can God be at peace? Yes - look at Philippians 4:7. Can God feel anger? Positive - example is in Psalm 7:11. God can be excited too (Genesis 2:19), as well as depressed and grieved with troubles(Matthew 26:38).

The list can continue much longer, but this is not he point that i am trying to make. What I want to say is that both the emotions that feel good and that humans try to pursue, as well as the emotions that we as humans call negative and try to avoid, are part of God's character and nature. He can and does feel them too!! Does that mean that God is evil if He feels anger or grief? No, we know that God is perfectly good. Therefore, our assumption that some emotions, like anger and sadness are bad, is wrong.

We are created in the image of God, in particular with the capacity to feel the same emotions that He can feel. Perhaps not for the same reasons, but nevertheless we can feel just like God can feel. According to the Scriptures, emotions are not part of our bodies, but more of our soul/spirit. For instance, when Jesus referred to His own emotions, He always spoke of His heart or His soul or His spirit. So although emotions DO have an effect on our bodies, they are not born there, but rather in our spiritual being. And since God is a spirit, we see that this is what makes us God-like in the spiritual level - our emotions.

Of course, you might tell me that animals, like dogs, have emotions as well. But remember that they still differ from God and us because they do not have a free will of their own. if you put a plate of meat before a hungry dog, it will eat it and there is no inner mechanism within it whatsoever that can tell it to go on a fast. There is no will power, i.e. no inner drive that would make it independent of the circumstances. humans, on the other hand, received this God-like gift together with the emotional package, and this coexistence of free will and emotions makes us God-like and children of the Most High - all of the humans, saved and unsaved alike.

So now, if emotions are not ad, if God has all the emotions within Himself as well, are they all good? Not really... If you are extremely happy you might be jumping and dancing and in the process even physically hurt someone!.. That would bring pain and pain is not good. So will that make being happy evil? No, of course not. Then there remains only one option for emotions - we have to say that they are neither good nor evil, but rather neutral.

On the other hand, it is what we do with the emotions that determines whether the result is good or evil. A person who wants to commit rape does it because it brings them good and enjoyable emotions and feelings. But the way and the means that they use to obtain those emotions are evil according to God's principles. So again, there is nothing wrong with the feeling, but the feeling is expressed by evil actions, which is wrong.

Having said that, I also want to look at how to express our emotions in a godly way. Many people believe that to express your emotions outwardly is a sign of weakness. I disagree with that because of the way Jesus lived. Throughout the Gospels He showed a lot of emotions: He laughed and cried, was angry and sad, grieved and rejoiced. How would the gospel writers know He felt that way unless He expressed these feelings on the outside? And if Jesus was expressing his feelings and emotions why should we who are children of God, obstain from doing the same?

Now remember that some ways in which we express our emotions can be offensive to others. One example might be to laugh out loud while everyone around you is sleeping, thereby bringing them discomfort. The other extreme is raping a person, as I already have discussed above. So we should make sure that in whatever way we express our feelings, we should aways be considerate of others and put their needs above our own, as the Scripture teaches. That's how Jesus expressed His feelings as well.

There is one drawback to emotions though. We think that emotions are a perfect reference for our lives and sometimes we try to live according to them, pursuing only those that make us feel good and avoiding situations that bring out negative emotions. I believe that this is wrong because that is not how Jesus lived. If He would live like that, He would have never went onto the Cross because it as a horrible experience for Him. And if God throughout the history would act on His emotions and not on His Truth, the earth would be wiped out long ago already. You can read Exodus 32 and its context, There god became very angry for the Israelites turned away from Him and began to worship a golden idol. But in the end He acted upon His integrity and His principles, and not according to the way how He felt. So should we, as His holy children. :)

Now, sit back for a second and imagine how the life would be without ANY emotions whatsoever! I think it would be a total disaster!! When you look at a beautiful sunset, you are not amazed. When your first child is born, you are not happy. When you see someone begging for food, you are not moved by compassion to help them. When you say something evil and detrimental to someone, you have no feelings of regret about it so you will never feel like making it right with them. Life would become mere existence, comprised of sleep, eat and work..... how dull.

To conclude, be Christ-like! Experience your life and let your God-given emotions be your colors every day! Feel the life around you, not just through your senses but through your feelings as well. And yeah, if you think crying is not for adults, remember that Jesus was over 30 when He wept over Lazarus (in public!) and that if God would not want us to cry when we are old, he would remove our tears. So be human and not stone and laugh and cry whenever you have to! God bless!!! :)