Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Your Emotions Do Not Have to Rule Your Life
John 12:27 - Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.
What do you do when your emotions are not good? We all go through season of anger, fear, and discouragement. Many go through heavy depression. Whenever our emotions are low they can tend to consume us. It can be hard to separate ourselves from our emotions. You may say, “I am depressed.” Another will say, “I am angry.” Although it is good to not deny the reality of our emotions, read those sentences again. If I say, “I am afraid,” I have made fear part of my identity.
John 12:27 happened in the toughest season of Jesus’ life. He knew his crucifixion was imminent. He knew what pain he was about to suffer. He did not deny the emotional reality he faced, but Jesus separated his identity from his emotions. Look at the first sentence: “Now my soul is troubled.” In America today, one of us would say, “I am really worried. I am scared.” Instead, Jesus separated his soul - psyche in Greek – from his willful self. He understood the source of the emotional distress that wanted to take over, but he knew he had a mission that was greater than the emotion he faced “For this purpose I have come to this hour.”
A Hebrew phrase related to this gets translated, “O, my soul,” in the King James Version and occurs 139 times in the Old Testament. The writers knew that their emotions were not their identity and did not have to force their wills to comply. What Jesus and the Old Testament writers did, we can do, too. We do not have to be slaves to our emotions. Our anger does not make us lash out at others. Our fear does not force us to quit. Our true, willful selves can choose to say no to our emotional souls. We can choose to do what’s right regardless of how we feel, and in the long run we will feel much better than if we succumb to destructive emotions. Do the right thing regardless of how you feel.
What do you do when your emotions are not good? We all go through season of anger, fear, and discouragement. Many go through heavy depression. Whenever our emotions are low they can tend to consume us. It can be hard to separate ourselves from our emotions. You may say, “I am depressed.” Another will say, “I am angry.” Although it is good to not deny the reality of our emotions, read those sentences again. If I say, “I am afraid,” I have made fear part of my identity.
John 12:27 happened in the toughest season of Jesus’ life. He knew his crucifixion was imminent. He knew what pain he was about to suffer. He did not deny the emotional reality he faced, but Jesus separated his identity from his emotions. Look at the first sentence: “Now my soul is troubled.” In America today, one of us would say, “I am really worried. I am scared.” Instead, Jesus separated his soul - psyche in Greek – from his willful self. He understood the source of the emotional distress that wanted to take over, but he knew he had a mission that was greater than the emotion he faced “For this purpose I have come to this hour.”
A Hebrew phrase related to this gets translated, “O, my soul,” in the King James Version and occurs 139 times in the Old Testament. The writers knew that their emotions were not their identity and did not have to force their wills to comply. What Jesus and the Old Testament writers did, we can do, too. We do not have to be slaves to our emotions. Our anger does not make us lash out at others. Our fear does not force us to quit. Our true, willful selves can choose to say no to our emotional souls. We can choose to do what’s right regardless of how we feel, and in the long run we will feel much better than if we succumb to destructive emotions. Do the right thing regardless of how you feel.
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