Reading 'Emotions: living life in colour' by Graham Beynon has been helpful in thinking about the reasons why we feel things. It has opened up to me an understanding that emotions can be good and right when they are in the right place in the right measure.
Emotions show us what our hearts prize the most, the things that we care about and value, the things we are passionate about. For example my feeling of disappointment and inadequacy is great when I handle or manage a situation at work badly. This is because I very much care about the opinion that my trainer has of me and I care about the well-being of the patient - but I also want my patient to think highly of me. In contrast, when England crashed out of the world cup my emotional response was minimal as I care little about football.
Our emotions in relationships are another example. There have been times when I have shared emotions with friends. Felt their excitement or joy, their fears and anxieties or cried with them. But there are also times when, to my shame, I have felt bitter and envious of another. Or even happy at another's misfortune. Our heart attitude in these things reveal how we truly regard each other. It shows how much we really care for and love each other and when we are actually just more bothered about ourselves.
At the centre of our emotions, at the centre of us, is our heart. Proverbs 4v23 says 'Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.' Our hearts direct our lives. It controls what we think, feel and do.
Feeling in a right way is part of God's ongoing work in us. He wants us to have good emotions in the right place and the right amount. This should give us hope! These emotions flow from truth - good feeling from good understanding.
- What does your heart treasure - how is this demonstrated by your emotions?
- Is guarding your heart important to you?
- How can we practically be guarding our hearts?
