I fall somewhere between being emotional and being rational. I often feel at war between those two parts of my brain, my body, myself. And it seems that everyone either says to “ignore your emotions” because they’re irrational and fluid or to “listen to your emotions” because they reflect how you really feel and it cannot be denied. Both paths have led me to more pain (emotionally) and confusion (rationally).
So in the book I’m going through by Nancy Leigh DeMoss she takes a more balanced (and, may I be so bold to say, more biblical) approach. Some excerpts:
“When we wrestle with out-of-control emotions, it is easy to conclude that emotions are inherently sinful or wrong and should be suppressed. We need to remember that being created in the image of God means we have the capacity to experience and express a variety of emotions. God exhibits a spectrum of pure emotions, including joy, delight, anger, jealousy and sorrow. And He has designed us to be able to feel and express many different emotions in a way that reflects His heart and brings glory to Him”
“The problem is not that we have emotions – they are a gift from God. The problem is that our emotions (unlike God’s) are tainted by the Fall…”
“While it may be true to some degree that we can’t help the way we feel, the Truth is that we don’t have to let our feelings RUN our lives” (emphasis mine)
“Certainly what happens in our bodies does affect us emotionally, mentally, and even spiritually. We cannot isolate these various dimensions of who we are – they are inseparably intertwined. But we fall into the trap of the Enemy when we JUSTIFY fleshly, sinful attitudes and responses based on our physical condition or hormonal changes.” (emphasis mine)
tauta LogizomAi 