What Are Your Emotions Telling You?

Emotions – we all have them, and many of us make most of our decisions based on them (whether we admit it or not)! Emotions however have no IQ. Emotions aren’t smart. Emotions aren’t dumb. They just are. They tell us where we are, not how to act. They should be a thermometer and not a thermostat. For the Christian, all emotions should be taken to the throne room of God, allowing the Holy Spirit to guide our next steps. Too often though, we react to our emotions with a knee-jerk feeling, rather than a Jesus-led response. This reaction causes conflict, and usually more negative emotions, which leaves us emotionally dysregulated. None of us want to be on the roller coaster of emotions, so what’s the solution?

Emotions should be a follower of our mind making solid decisions based upon the guidance of the Word of God. This is the way God designed us. He tells us to not follow the patterns of the world but to be transformed by changing the way we think. This can only happen when we take hold of our emotions and place them at the feet of Jesus. This takes discipline and training. It’s a process because the world just tells us to feel better and we’ll be better. Yet our feelings lie to us. Scripture also tells us to not lean on our own understanding. So by taking everything to the Lord, we can at least buy ourselves some time to think about what the feelings are saying and allow the Holy Spirit to guide our thoughts and responses.