By: Benjamin G. Campbell
Vivid words like “emotional” or “moody” or “expressive” or “passionate” all are words describing the way in which we, as human beings, live out the feelings and thoughts we possess in our hearts and minds. The human psyche is quite the monster to tackle but tackle its complexity we must. The human mind and heart are not a fallen element to human existence, but an innate constructive part of who we are as image bearers of a God who rationally thinks with His mind, feels with His heart, and acts with His will.
Oftentimes, emotions are sidelined into something they were never meant to be. In many cases, the emotions are given a place for which they were never created. In fact, much of modern-day psychological praxes does not adequately deal with the human heart, instead, it aims to deal directly with human thinking and human behavior which then misses the foundational root of all problems – the fall of man.
How can we deal biblically with our emotions? What does the Bible say regarding your emotions? What does it mean to “feel” things with our “hearts”? It is in this blog post that I hope to answer some of these questions from the wisdom of Holy Scripture. What follows will be a quick establishment of what the Bible says about our emotions and how we ought to navigate them biblically with a few key practices to keep our emotions in the correct place.
The Bible and Emotions
It is good to continuously remind ourselves that our emotions are given to us by God and created by Him. God has given us emotions as markers for experiencing the difficulties of life. When we experience a trauma of sorts, our brain sends signals detecting a threat. However, if left undealt with, we tend to experience reactions in our emotions and feelings that do not reflect reality. When we do not deal correctly with our emotions, our feelings and actions can spiral in ways we don’t expect or intend, so the question becomes, then, “What does the Bible say about our emotions, and how do they fit into everyday life”? The Scriptures tell us a few different things about our feelings:
- Emotions are a God-given reality for every human being. Leroy Forlines presented his readers with the proposition that every human being is a thinking, feeling, and acting being – what he calls the total personality.[1] We do not simply think certain things and act on them – we feel them. Emotions are given to us by a good God. The psalmist exclaims that his soul is greatly troubled (Ps. 6:3). Elijah asked God that he would die (1 Kings 19:4. Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane while sweating drops of blood, indicating some sort of depressive state, stating “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death (Matt. 26:38). In the most vulnerable of communication here, I want to simply say if the Lord Jesus expressed emotions, then emotions are not the problem – they are God-given ways in which our minds, hearts, and wills communicate.
- Emotions are not inherently bad. If emotions are God-given, then it must follow that they are not the problem; our sinful nature is the problem. As the Garden narrative in Genesis portrays, man was created in the image and likeness of his Creator, which means that he is a rational being who thinks, feels, and acts out of necessity of what it means to be a person. Our emotions, then, are the building blocks for what it means to be a person created in the image and likeness of God Almighty. Ed Welch writes, “Scripture consistently identifies our emotions as matters of our hearts, which is another way of saying that they are important and we should pay attention to them. They usually reveal our true selves, and we hope to know each other in that deeper way.”[2]
- Emotions are inherently fallen. Because our emotions reveal our true selves, it must follow that even though emotions are not inherently sinful, they are fallen because they are our emotions. So, while the emotions we express are created for our good, they are not always expressed in goodness and right. Sometimes, they are expressed wrongly. Sometimes, they are expressed untimely. Sometimes, even, they are not expressed but suppressed, which typically results in greater issues. Either way, the conundrum humanity finds itself in is the idea that emotions are good, but we are fallen – so, how do we express them?
- Emotions need sanctifying grace. At the end of the day, emotions need the sanctifying and lavished grace of God. Welch has also reminded his readers that “God speaks to everything.”[3] God speaks through His Word, and Johnson is clear that the ultimate expectation of humanity from Holy Scripture is to glorify God as whole human beings.[4] “Do not be anxious,” Paul states in Philippians 4:6; “Therefore,” Jesus says, “I tell you, do not be anxious about your life,” in Matthew 6:25; Jeremiah states that the message of the covenant God of Israel is like a “fire burning in [his] heart” (Jer. 20:9). In other words, I give you these passage of Scripture to reassure you that your emotions can be and are being redeemed by a good God who loves His children and wants them to be whole persons who flourish in this life until the new life is realized.
Biblically Navigating Emotions
The question, however, is how we navigate our emotions until the new heavens and new earth are made a reality for us in the life to come.
As we experience different difficulties, our brain will sense threats and make us think certain things or make certain perceptions about current situations to protect ourselves – these are from the unconscious portion behind the prefrontal cortex of the brain. One author calls this portion of your brain – the amygdala – your smoke detector.[5] It is the amygdala that signifies the threat of every situation before getting to the prefrontal cortex to regulate your thoughts on any given situation.
Essentially, this means that God has created your body to detect and recognize things that are not normal or that could pose a threat to you. Just as a smoke detector might detect a threat when you burn some bacon in the skillet, your brain detects the smoke of situations in your life and sounds the alarm when there could possibly be a looming threat. What do you do when this happens? Here are a few helpful principles:
- Remember the Sovereignty of God. God’s sovereignty, yes, even extends to our emotions. He created them; therefore, He can redeem them. There is NOTHING too hard for Him, and that includes your mental health.
- Remember that Your Emotions are Not Always Right. While our emotions are created to us by God, they are still fallen and sometimes our smoke detector detects incorrectly. So, we need truth and grace to navigate our emotions when we sense something is “off.”
- Remember What Philippians 4:8 Commands. This is where Scripture comes into the equation. Paul tells the Philippians to think on what is honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise (Phil. 4:8). Notice how Paul commands us to “think” on these things – our minds are what regulate our emotions.
- Practice Trust. If God’s sovereignty is as far-reaching as the Bible describes, then our job is to let go of the control we think we need and let God be God. I know, I know it sounds like I’m saying, “Let go, and let God.” I promise, this is not what I mean. Instead, what I mean to convey is that we surrender all of the things in our life that we have no control over to the one who already holds the control. He provides food for the sparrows, He clothes the lilies of the field with beauty, how much more will He not provide for you, o child of His?
- Practice Regulating Your Emotions through Spiritual Disciplines. If our minds are what regulate our emotions, then we regulate our emotions by renewing our minds (Rom. 12:2). Our minds are just as fallen as our emotions, that is until we renew them daily through Bible intake, prayer, meditation, surrender, faith, and trust. It takes the daily discipline of surrendering the throne of our whole person to the Lord Jesus, so He lives in us and through us by His Spirit (Gal. 2:20).
- Practice Placing Emotions Where They Ought to Be. Simply put, the psalmist expresses this in the best of ways: “Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion” (Ps. 84:4).
Conclusion
If I’m being honest, I struggle greatly with regulating my emotions at times. Life gets in the way and my want for control continues to rise seemingly. As I am recommending these practical steps to you, I hope you know that I am a work in progress too! My journey of sanctification is progressive just like yours, and it would do all of us well to “take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete” (2 Cor. 10:5).
Our sole aim in this life is to live for the glory of God obediently while we navigate the complexities of this life, and that includes the way in which we think and act, but also in the way we feel. Our emotions can be redeemed, and they are being redeemed by the Word of God and the power of the Spirit within us working in us to renew our minds and live as living sacrifices humbly serving King Jesus until He comes again.
[1] For the discourse of how the total personality is described and applied in everyday life, see F. Leroy Forlines. The Quest for Truth: Theology for Postmodern Times (Nashville: Randall House, 2001), xii-xvi.
[2] Ed Welch, “Emotions Are a Language” CCEF, accessed on January 24, 2024, https://www.ccef.org/emotions-are-a-language.
[3] Ed Welch. I Have a Psychiatric Diagnosis: What Does the Bible Say? (Greensboro, NC: New Growth Press, 2022). 1.
[4] Eric L. Johnson. Foundations for Soul Care: A Christian Psychology Proposal (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2007), 28.
[5] Van Der Kolk, Bessel. The Body Keeps the Score (New York: Penguin, 2014), 35.
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