Who Manages Your Emotions?

“Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.”
James 4:9

There was a time when I read this verse and assumed that God wanted me to be a sullen, depressed, unsmiling, unhappy Christian.
That’s not what James is saying…not at all.
The key word in the verse is “Let”.

God wants us to allow our laughter and happiness to be turned to tears when He moves us to feel His heartbeat…just as a sinner does when the Lord leads them to repentance.
God wants us to laugh at what He would laugh at. Keep it clean.
God wants us to weep for those things that He would weep for.

He wants us to be joyous with Him…
not foolish, but joyous.
He wants us to be angry at what makes Him angry…not sinful, but angry.

God made us to be sympathetic.
God made us to be empathetic.
God made us to shed some tears.
God made us to know anguish.
God wants our emotions to reflect those of Jesus Christ, who is our example of Christian conduct.

Christian soldiers need stable emotions.
One of the roadblocks to being an emotionally well-rounded Christian is a refusal to let the Holy Spirit lead us emotionally.

There’s a reason that television is filled with mindless emotional drama and silly sitcoms…it’s to prevent you from taking time to emotionally connect with the Creator…it’s called “programming” for a reason.
When you connect emotionally with God in prayer and study, He draws near and allows you to know His heart…and when that happens your discernment of good and evil SKYROCKETS.

Emotions are a gift from God…they should be a steady picture of the life of Jesus Christ, the truth of the Word, and the leadership of the Holy Spirit.
Don’t stifle your emotions, neither let them run wild…but let the Holy Spirit manage them.