Emotions: Given by God (Part 2)

In the first part of this two-part series, I identified two fundamental biblical truths about emotions. The first is that both God and people are hard-wired with them. They are a part of our being. The second is that our relationship with God is one of the heart which includes, among other things, both mental and emotional aspects. We relate to God both rationally and emotionally.

In this article, I will discuss two additional truths.

A third biblical truth about emotions is that they can either be righteous or unrighteous.

An emotion in and of itself is not wrong (whether that emotion is positive or negative). Rather, how we partner with an emotion is what makes it virtuous or sinful. A couple of Scriptures, related to the emotion of anger, will serve to illustrate this truth:

• "In your anger do not sin." (Ephesians 4:26a)

• "My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires." (James 1:19-20)

The fourth biblical truth about emotions is that the Bible is emotional literature.

“Scripture not only speaks about emotions, it also speaks to and through our emotions. The Bible itself is emotional literature, filled with emotional expression and designed not just to communicate with our rationality but also to stir us emotionally, thus affirming our emotionality.” (Evangelical Dictionary of Theology)

A few concluding thoughts.

Everyone partners with emotions. None of us live as robots (although some of us may try). The question isn’t whether we do or do not partner with our emotions in our relationships with God and people, but to what extent and in what way. The extent to which we partner with emotions is influenced by our design, what we learned implicitly and explicitly in our family of origin and our culture (church and society), and how we processed life’s traumas.

As adults, we often have as much to unlearn about emotions as we need to learn about them. As Christians, we need more understanding and a better partnership with our emotions to experience wholeness, grow in our intimacy with God and one another, and reach others with Christ’s love. Thus, it is essential that we accept, honor, welcome, and cultivate their healthy expression. We must not stuff, minimize, bypass, demonize, overvalue, inordinately partner with, or idolize the beauty of our God-given emotions.

Jim Kubiak serves as a pastor-at-large in Bonner County. He can be reached at JimKubiak7@gmail.com.