Christ wants to be the Master of your emotions. He wants to help you responsibly use your emotions. After studying this, article, you should be able to define emotions, relate your emotions to what you believe is important (your values), list six steps to your life, and apply the six steps to your life.

1. Defining emotions

Emotions are the responses a person makes to various situations in life. Emotions may be love, hate, joy, sorrow, anger, grief, and other responses. An emotion may be good or bad depending on the situation. Read Mark 3: 5, John 11: 35, John 13: 34, and John 17: 13. Will you now discover your emotion?

You show emotions when others agree or disagree with your beliefs or values. Your beliefs and what you consider important are not the same as those of any other person. You will react to the same things in different ways. Jesus responded. With emotions that were different from the teachers of the law and the chief priests because his values were different from theirs.  Read Mathew 21: 12-16 and answer the following questions.

  • The selling and buying in the Temple caused different emotions in Jesus in the teachers of the Law and the chief priests.
  • What was Jesus’ emotion?
  • Why did he respond this way?
  • What emotions do you think the teachers and chief priests felt about buying and selling in the temple?
  • Why?
  • The healing of the blind and lame man in the temple caused different emotions in the teachers, the chief priest, and in the children. What emotion did the teachers and chief priests have?
  • Why?
  • What emotions did the children have?
  • Why?

2. How emotions are related

You have just seen that a person’s reactions are based on what he believes is important. The things you believe to be important are called your values. These values help determine how you respond to a situation. Read Luke 10: 30-37, then answer the following questions:

  • Why do you think the priest and Levite did not stop to help the injured man?
  • Why do you think the Samaritan stopped to help?

Think of the last time you were angry. What caused the anger? Did someone question any of the following? Is it your job, family, authority, your plans, and ideas, the truth of your words, your motive for doing something? If you can understand what makes you happy, sad, or angry you can know what true values are.

3. List of emotion control

Many people are happy, sad, or angry about the wrong things and for the wrong reasons. The emotions of a person without Jesus are controlled by Christ and are godly. He has allowed the Holy Spirit to rule his emotions. The following six steps will teach you to recognize your emotions and how to begin to let God control them.

  • Admit you have the emotion.
  • Understand the source of your emotion.
  • Thank God that he will help you control your emotion.
  • Know what the Bible says about each emotion.
  • Obey the leading of the Holy Spirit.
  • Allow the fruits of the Spirit to grow in you.

Application of emotion control

The list of control of emotions above can be applied in the following ways:

1. Admit you have the emotion.

Have you ever heard someone scream “ I am NOT angry?” You work to change the emotion only if you recognize it. You can work to change the emotion only if you recognize it. Read Mathew 26: 37-38. What was the first thing Jesus did about his emotions of grief and anguish as he faced the cross?

2. Understand the source of your emotion.

The emotion may be anger, love, bitterness, joy, resentment, jealousy, or any other. If you know why you are experiencing a feeling, you can deal with the cause. This is not easy to do. Perhaps, something that happened several days ago will cause you to react in a certain way today. Think of an emotion you had earlier or yesterday. Why do you feel the way you do? Check the source of emotion below and discover your own.

  • The physical condition of your body
  • What someone has said to you or about you
  • What someone has done for you or to you
  • Your thoughts
  • Your will
  • Your flesh (Sinful nature)
  • Your relationship with God
  • Others

3. Thank God that he will help you control your emotion.

Whether you can identify the cause of your emotion or not, you may take the third action step. Read Psalm 42: 9-11. Consider the following:

  • What steps did David take to deal with his emotions?
  • You do not have to understand a situation to believe that God will work in it and to be thankful that he will do so. Read 1 Thessalonians 5: 18. In what situation are you to give thanks?
  • Read Romans 8: 28. Why can you give thanks in everything?

4. Know what the Bible says about each emotion.

You should not act badly and then blame your actions on another person or how you feel. The Bible teaches that you are responsible for how you act. It gives principles on how to respond to any emotion. The better you know your Bible, the easier it is to apply it to your emotions. Read the following Scriptures and write in your own words a biblical response to the emotions.

  • The emotion of hatred Luke 6: 27-28
  • The emotion of anxiety Philippians 4: 6-7
  • The emotion of joy Philippians 4: 4
  • The emotion of anger Ephesians 4: 25-26; 31-32
  • The emotion of Jealousy 1 Peter 2: 1; 1Corinthians 13: 4

5. Obey the lead of the Holy Spirit

The person without Jesus and the self-centered Christians want to do what their emotions, mind or will tell them. The Christian controlled by Christ obeys the higher call to do what the Spirit has revealed. To do what God says is right rather than what you feel is right requires an act of the will. You must understand your obligation to act in the right way toward others whether you feel like it or not.

Read the stories below and say the ones that show a person had a bad emotion and what his feelings were said. Also, check the ones that show a person that Holy Spirit led to having good emotions.

  • A lady went to market, stepped on a banana peel, and slipped, knocking down a vendor’s basket of tomatoes. The owner shouted at her and said, “Pay me for the tomatoes you have ruined, and don’t be so careless.”
  • A man riding his bicycle very fast around the village hit a boy playing nearby. The boy was hurt badly, but though the cyclist fell, he was not hurt. The child’s father saw the accident, ran quickly to the scene, helped the cyclist up, and asked if he was hurt. As soon as he discovered that only his child was hurt, the father quickly took him to the hospital.
  • A man was caught with a stolen goat. When he was taken to the owner and admitted stealing it, the owner took his goat back and asked the people to let the man go.

Feelings influence how we act. But it is also true that our actions influence how we feel. Jesus’ solution was to command an action rather than a feeling (Read 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7. Is the word “Love” described as an emotional feeling or as a way of behaving?

6. Allow the fruit of the spirit to grow in you.

Read Galatians 5: 22-23. Which kind of fruit needs to grow bigger in you to help you control emotion? Answer the following questions.

  • Write the six steps for controlling your emotions.

Conclusion

This article has examined the definition of emotions, relating emotions to what you believe is important, steps to help you control your emotions, and the application of those six steps. The article will solve different kinds of emotions, anxieties, and depression.