Do you feel like you’re drowning in an ocean of emotions? This year has been an especially emotionally challenging time. We’ve responded with emotions like anxiety, sadness, anger, and discontentment. How can we deal with the way we feel? In this new series, we will discover how our emotions can help us live out God’s purpose for our lives. Join us at The Connection Church Online or in Buda and San Marcos for worship services for our new series – Oceans of Emotions.
What do we need to understand about our emotions?
God has a Mood.
Is that okay to say? That God has feelings? Of course, He does. God feels joy, grief, and pain. He hates sin. The only reason you have emotions is that God made you in His image. Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created human beings in His own image.” We are image-bearers of God, and we reflect feelings that have been given to us by God.
If God didn’t have emotions, you wouldn’t have any moods. If God doesn’t love, there wouldn’t be any love. God is love. God created our emotions because He also has strong feelings.
Moods are a gift from God.
Your moods are a gift from God. They may not always seem like it, but even the negative ones can help you. Moods make you a normal human.
If you didn’t have moods, you’d be like a robot. You can love, create, be faithful, and generous, and feel all of the feelings that make life enjoyable.
There are two extremes to avoid.
Moods aren’t all that matters.
Some people think, “It doesn’t matter what I think mentally, it doesn’t matter what’s right or wrong, it doesn’t matter what’s good or bad. It’s all about my mood. If it feels good do it. Feelings are the main motor of my life. They control me. They run my life. I feel it!”
These Christians say feelings are all that matters. When they come to church they’re looking for the feeling. I just didn’t feel it today. They want an ocean of emotion. They want a quiver in their liver. That’s wrong too. A lot of people are actually seeking a feeling instead of seeking God when they worship. Our feelings can become an idol. Some even go so far as to throw out the doctrine and the truth. They say, “This is how I feel, so it must be true.” That’s one extreme. The other is…
Don’t ignore your mood.
Some people stuff their feelings so that the only thing that matters is what they think. People like this deny their feelings or stuff them down. They say, “There’s no place for fun in my life.”
They’re both extremes. The sweet spot is somewhere in the middle. God gave you both a mind and feelings and they’re both important. Real worship happens where the heart and the head come together.
God gave you your moods for a reason. God wants you to feel something when you worship Him. In fact, many times in the Bible, God says, “You’re just worshiping with your lips, but your heart is far from Me. You’re just going through the motions.”
In this new series, Oceans of Emotions, we will talk about specific emotions God has given us and how we can deal with how we feel so we can fully enjoy the life God has for us.