Emotions Aren’t Meant to Define Us

Emotions can be a beautiful, complex thing. God created us with emotions but because of sin, emotions are tainted and can’t always be trusted.

Now, emotions aren’t necessarily wrong. God created us to think and feel. After all, Jesus experienced emotions! He wept, became angry, had a heart full of compassion, and was moved to pity. We need to feel. That’s part of being human, but we also need to realize that emotions do not equal truth.

I struggle with being a big feeler and emotionally driven, I guess you could say. It’s natural, of course, to feel happy when complimented or sad, even angry, when mistreated, but we shouldn’t let how people treat us affect our identity. In other words, if people have the power to make us feel good about ourselves, then that also means that they have the power to turn our sunshiny mood into gloomy ones.

People are fickle and a poor choice to put our trust in. No matter how hard we try, we simply will never be able to find fulfillment and satisfaction in another person.

It’s not wrong to weep over something we’ve lost. Jesus wept when He saw Mary weeping over the death of her brother, Lazarus, even though Jesus knew He would raise him from the dead in a matter of hours.

Jesus invites us to come to Him with our emotions, no matter how messy they may be. He wants to cry with us when we’re sad, rejoice with us when we are glad, and hold us when we need comfort. Maybe no one else cares to weep with you. Maybe others are afraid of your emotions.

But Jesus isn’t, and you shouldn’t be either.

Now what about those of us who feel on top of the world? Like things can’t get any better? Jesus wants to hear about that, too.

Trust me; I’ve been there. Enjoy those friendships, that promotion, that feeling of being on top of the world. It’s an emotion, and it’s good.

But we must be careful to not to let it define us. Those people we have in our lives, they might not always be there. Even if we get the job, the friendship, or the [fill-in-the-blank] that we want, they are not going to complete us. One minute, we may feel like we couldn’t be happier. The next, like we don’t have enough. Like we aren’t enough.

Dear friend, emotions are meant to be felt. They’re not meant to be shoved under a rug or suffocated. Feel them. Allow Jesus in to feel them with you, but don’t let them determine who you are.

Trust me, you are worth so much more than your emotions will ever tell you.

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