This week we have read chapter four, What About Our Feelings? The previous chapters have been on the mind, and now Tom Marshall moves to another part of our soul life, the emotions. He starts the chapter with a statement that I have found to be very true as I have lived and moved within the Christian community:
There is probably no area of our personality where we need more help - and receive less - than in the area of the emotions or feelings. Generally Christian teaching has taken a fairly negative attitude towards the whole subject. We may, in some churches, allow freedom of expression for joy and praise in worship, but this is still regarded by others as rank 'emotionalism.' Even where expression of worship is encouraged, there remains a very tentative and uncertain outlook towards the emotions as a whole.
As one of you commented about Marshall's teaching, although we aren't meant to lean on feelings as our primary guide to truth, neither are we meant to ignore them; and when we ignore or suppress the emotional part of our makeup, we end up damaging the positive feelings as well as the negative simply because we don't have the luxury of selecting which ones to suppress. Consequently, many sincere believers have unwittingly cut off a big piece of their personality which is a gift from God. (Every human, no matter what their basic personality, has an emotional part of their nature - we all express that part of us in different ways; however, not only do we all have emotions, but that part of our makeup, influences us much more than we like to admit.)
(It's interesting to me that western believers have been trained to trust what our minds can accept but to be suspicious of our emotions. My contention related to this is that we can't trust the human mind any more than we can trust the emotions. Both are part of our soul life which is given to us by God but which has been profoundly damaged in the Fall of man and each person's choice to go our own way.)
The author's definition of emotions is that they are the "total response of the person to happenings in our environment. Thus a sudden noise makes you afraid, an insult makes you angry or the sight of a person in pain causes you to feel pity." Depending on the intensity of the feeling, there can actually be physical sensations that accompany the emotions (i.e., a red face and tense muscles when angry...). Isaiah 21:3,4 says, "...My heart falters, fear makes me tremble..."
Marshall then makes an important observation about our emotions and how they can have a long-term effect on us: "...once activated by a set of circumstances, the same feelings can be repeated time and again merely by recalling the event. A situation that caused us fear or shame can still bring anxiety or embarrassment every time we remember it even years later. It is this repetitive effect, particularly with the strong negative emotions that produce physiological changes, which can be the source of a whole range of functional and organic disorders."
After pointing out that the emotions are "powerful motivators of behavior" and that "in spite of the cherished idea...that we make decisions on the basis of logical reasoning, every salesman and advertiser knows that to bring people to the point of decision-making you have to move their feelings...," the author says that we can get into serious problems when we apply moral or ethical values to emotional conditions. "If we regard all pleasant emotions as 'good' and all unpleasant emotions as 'bad,' confusion follows..."
Anger is one such emotion...at times it's a sin, but not always, etc. Marshall concludes the chapter with this statement: "...the emotions are not of themselves reliable guides to behavior. We cannot rely on them to motivate us towards the good and away from the bad. Any specific emotion may, in fact, be either good or bad, right or wrong."
Lord, thank You that You have made us emotional creatures in Your image - You are an emotional God - and thank You for the purposes You have for our emotional well-being. I pray that You, by Your Spirit and Your healing presence, would come and do a work in us Your people to bring us into full personhood in You. Thank You that, although this is daunting to us, it isn't difficult for You and that You delight in bringing us to fullness in You. Blessed be Your name, Lord Jesus!
For next week read chapters 5 and 6 which continue on the subject of our emotions. Have a great week!
Emotions!! Oh dear! Must we face them??
ReplyDeleteI don’t know about you folks out there, but, wow, if you had emotions when talking and sharing, weren’t you almost considered unstable? We were above all else, to be in control of expressing emotions (let alone have an emotion)…indeed, it was very suspicious. Perhaps it was my generation or my genetics, but to be able to talk stoically, to be unemotional and yet state what you wanted to say…now that was perfection!
I agree—it killed the good, positive emotions as well. If something “good” happened to a person, oh my, the next person may not be having that same “good”—best not get excited about it.
Am I cynical? I don’t know—all I know is as we are happy and glad when another has a “good” thing, we bless them and they are free to be happy and go about rejoicing in the goodness of the Lord. Obviously, this does not come easily and is built into us over time, experience and maturity…even if the Scriptures do say to rejoice when another rejoices. Just think how hard that is in reality! I think we wouldn’t have so many wounded people if we had applied this wisdom from above at an early age.
On the other hand, I certainly agree whole heartedly with the author’s cautions regarding emotions. Like he shared—in certain settings an emotion can be good, and in another setting, it can be bad. His balanced sharing of our having moral sensibilities that would show anger at an injustice to another as well as using emotions for God’s whole goodness to us…not use emotions as an excuse to agree to immoral acts, etc.
The Holy Spirit is absolutely essential and very much depended on to reach our spirit to indicate what is pure, honorable, lovely and of peace, etc. What a wonderful cleansing, healing effect that is. This “healing effect” allows us to relate the real Jesus in a warm, positive, loving and gentle way…speaking of emotions.
I could go on with some stories, especially of my salesman husband and his excited and emotional persuasions. Oh, yes, I could squelch a very excited, emotional statement quite easily. I would feel self-conscious and embarrassed at all that emotion. …notice, “I would feel”….
It was, and is, difficult learning a balance in it all—or have I learned it at all!!
P.S. Thanks for all the sharing!!!