Emotions...Good or Bad?

Emotions...Good or Bad

I have heard and have said your emotions are not reliable, don't act on them. I have come to believe your emotions are a gift from God that the Spirit uses to reveal our inner self, our true self. They are the wings that make us fly. What is love without emotion. What is life without emotion. What is fear but is an emotion. Emotions are a moving of the heart in a direction. Repentance is emotion. A broken and contrite heart is emotion. To not have emotion is to be hard hearted. It is to be stoic, not to feel.

I agree we can be extremely emotional. There are times our emotions are not led by the Spirit such as, God must not be with me...I cannot feel Him. We have to look to scripture to see and know God never leaves us even when we cannot feel His presence.

I believe we are afraid of encouraging others to feel their emotions because they have been so misused. Do we give up food and drink because we might over indulge? To be in touch with your emotions is healthy. I believe God not only wants us to be emotionally intimate with Him but also with each other. Does that scare you? To take off the veneer of the solid treasure of our hearts...To speak truth to each other in love...To share our fears, hopes, pains and love..To have compassion and shed tears with those who are suffering...To laugh with those who celebrate. To be as open as the sky and as honest as dirt with each other.

Christ knew emotions. Some of His greatest emotions,"My God, My God, why have you forsaken me.." If it be thy will take this cup from me...When He sweat blood...When He cried out, "It is finished". How deep must the emotion be when He remembers the pain of the separation from His Father...When He feels our pain? What is suffering and dying to our own desires but emotion. Jesus wept. He knows emotion. What is Gods wrath poured out on His Son against our sin? God knows sorrow and suffering and grief. He knows peace and joy and delight and enjoyment? What is worship but emotion, as we give our hearts once again, to fear Him and be in awe of who He is, to be lifted up with Him in the heavenly. I believe the Spirit is the feelings and emotions of the Father and Son. Without our Spirit we are dead.

So go for it. Feel the emotions of your heart. It is a barometer of our heart. Let your emotions lead you to Christ, to shed tears, to suffer, to grieve...to sing, to dance, to worship and to love.