| 1. |
Emotions are messengers about what is going on inside us, our thoughts, our beliefs, and our values.
Consider this analogy: If a person is sick and takes his temperature, the thermometer is an indicator of what is going on inside that person physically. If the person has a fever, he has a choice to make. He can put the thermometer away and pretend nothing is wrong, or he can break the thermometer and throw it away. Neither of these solutions will deal with the real problem. Even treating the fever will not necessarily remedy the illness.
If the person has strep throat, taking aspirin may help the fever, but it will not cure the illness.
Most people are ignoring the thermometer (stuffing or ignoring their emotions) or are treating just the fever (the painful emotion that they are feeling) and not examining what the real issue is (the thought or beliefs behind the emotions).
Emotions themselves are morally neutral. They are not sinful in themselves. As we see in Ephesians 4:26
In your anger, do not sin. It is not anger that is sinful; it is the action we take as a result of the anger that is sinful.
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| 2. |
Emotions can be
messy. They become messy when they seem more true to us than the Word of God. This is allowing the emotions to be the
authority of your life. We then begin to make decisions based on how we feel. Our behavior is controlled by how we feel. Happiness becomes the prime motivator rather than holiness. |
| 3. |
Emotions are manageable. Your emotions do not have to control you or be the authority for your decisions. A guide that we use to help us respond to our circumstances in life in a godly manner is
"REED".
Recognize your emotions, acknowledge them. Don’t ignore them.
Express your emotions Godward rather than inward (stuffing them) or outward at other people (dumping them). That doesn’t mean we never express our emotions to other people, but that is not to be our immediate reaction - to lash out or unload them to get rid of the
pain.
Evaluate your emotions by investigating the message they are sending out about what you are thinking and believing, etc.
Decision to replace your thinking and behavior with God’s instruction on the issue at
hand.
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This teaching is a summary of lesson four of Pneumanetics. Pneumanetics is a philosophy or model on which we base our biblical counseling. It is a course to train Christians in ministering to others.
This teaching is also included in lesson six,
"Controlling Emotions" in our workbook,
"Be Transformed".
© 1973, 1998, 1999 Scope Ministries International, Inc.
Jim Craddock, Founder and President Emeritus
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