Emotions are a blessing from God.  Scientific studies show that individuals with damage to the brain in the area of emotional response have great difficulty making decisions and thinking clearly.  Most of us are tempted to believe that we can manage our emotions or suppress them effectively.  That is not the case.  Just as ‘toughing’ out physical pain causes lasting physical damage, developing emotional callouses (or prisons to stuff emotions into) creates physical and relational devastation.  God gave us emotions to develop us into the design He intended!

Identifying the message we are receiving from our soul nerves (our emotions) can be tricky.  When I first began to accept I had to deal with emotions, I needed an Emotion Chart such as the one on the left to help me identify them. I ignored them so long, I didn’t recognize them. The silly chart placed on my refrigerator helped me expand my vocabulary about emotions.  We cannot think beyond the extent of our vocabulary.  Knowledge and understanding walk hand-in-hand.

From there, I moved onto the Feeling Wheel and studied how emotions relate to one another.  Another helpful tool is recognizing the phrases that indicate deep emotion–either in yourself or another.

God designed humanity for the Fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22, 23a)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

In fact, not living in the Spirit creates disease because it is dis-ease within our bodies.  Not living the Spirit creates dis-ease in our relationships.  Emotions are God’s tool to help us live in health and harmony!  Embrace them.