Do negative emotions threaten to overwhelm you? Through the power of God’s word, they do not have to overcome you! God created us to experience emotions, however there are Godly and ungodly methods to manage them.
Consider the word itself: e-motion. Emotions move you to action. Your emotions originate from your thoughts. If your emotions are based upon lying thoughts (those that do not agree with God’s word) then they can lead you to take ungodly actions.
Here is an example: I suffered from depression for many years. One thought driving that depression was that no one cared for me. While the feeling was true, it was based upon a lying thought. If I had not questioned it (and persistent thoughts like them), they would have led me to suicide.
The enemy often sows lying thoughts into Christians’ minds to steal, kill, and to destroy us. But Jesus came that we might have life. We can live in His peace when we develop His mind according to:
2 Corinthians 10:5 – “casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”
Because Jesus is the living Word, your goal is to assess your thoughts to ensure they agree with His word. Acknowledge your feelings but then ask yourself, “What must I believe to feel this way?” That will help you to uncover the thought behind the feeling and see if that thought agrees with God’s word
From my example, I believed that nobody cared for me. To take the thought captive to the obedience of Christ, the next question is important: Is this thought true?
If I only kept looking at my circumstances, I could say ‘yes’ because no one was around to comfort me. But human perception is limited. So I realized that I needed to look into God’s word because His thoughts are higher than ours and so are His ways.
Looking at God’s word in 1 Peter 5:7 revealed to me why my thought was a lie: “casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” So that scripture told me that God cares!
Remember: Just because you “feel” an emotion does not mean the thought behind it is true. Therefore, to glorify the Lord with your actions, ensure that your emotions are based upon the truth in God’s word. Amen.