Your emotions: Can you trust them?

Many of us struggle with our emotions and what to do with them. Our emotions effect every part of our life, especially our relationships with people and with God and our effectiveness in life.

Some people try not to have emotions because they make life difficult or seem too vulnerable. They're afraid to react to emotion. So they rationalize or just detach. Or just stay busy. Anything in order to avoid being emotional or needy. They experience emotion as overwhelming or at least inconvenient.

Other people depend on their emotion to do the things they need to do. (Usually these people are emotionally reactive too.) They try to generate emotion to get excited or get them moving. They'll use music, drugs, food, or whatever to generate the feeling they want. (This is the basis of addictions.)

Jesus models a balanced approach to emotions. He felt his emotions, but was not controlled by them. He was always aware of his feelings, but not dependent on them. The Psalmist shows us the same balance, an "honest faith."

We shouldn't confuse our emotions with our heart. The "heart" in the Biblical understanding is our will, our freedom of choice. If emotions are in the position of our heart, our center, then we're in trouble!

Can you trust your emotions? Yes and no. They are one source of discernment and energy (we call them e-motions). But we need others sources.

Always we want to be aware of our emotions. But never do we want to be controlled by them.