Emotions Are Biblical

As a professor in psychology and a Christian therapist, I spend a lot of time educating people on what emotions are. At the start of my career, a student bought me a feeling-wheel pillow which now lives on my therapy couch. That pillow is the most talked about item in my office. It proves that the experience of emotions is so inherently human, and also wildly misunderstood.

A true lesson on the intellectual understanding of an emotion would take far more than a blog post, but here’s a crash course. The secular psychological definition of emotions is an outward response or inner feeling to our own personal perceptions (not circumstances). It is our thoughts and views of specific circumstances that dictates how we then think, process, and respond. 

As you can imagine from my choice of career, I love emotions. I find them to be such a fascinating intellectual concept. For most of my clients, however, they are a pesky, complex experience. An experience that defines both the greatest joys and the deepest sadness’s of their lives. Emotions also lead to the undesirable experience of vulnerability.

Failed Understanding of Emotions

When we are little, we learn about emotions – what they are, how to identify them, how to express them – from our parents, teachers, preachers and social influences. Sometimes, through that learned experience, we do not learn how to emotionally regulate – the idea of managing, expressing, and processing our feelings in a healthy, acceptable way. 

Plus, with the insurgence of gentle parenting, we are seeing a generation of young adults who not only don’t know how to regulate, but that expect that their feelings be validated in every situation. Validated – not honored for existing. Emotions exist and are good indicators of what our own perceptions are, but they are not always accurate to a situation or set of behavior choices. It’s why many in my field believe that teaching emotions as honorable but not valid is a necessity.

Furthermore, some of us grow up to believe that some feelings are bad because of the expectations around our gender (boys don’t cry, anger is unbecoming to a girl, etc). Others believe that some feelings are more acceptable to express because of what the church has preached. And even more believe that unless a feeling is positive, we shouldn’t share or express it externally at all. 

This dichotomy of believing that all our emotions are valid and yet, negative or positive in cultural connotation, has led to a lot of misguided expression and fear of vulnerability.

Through working with Christians in learning to be more vulnerable, regulate, honor (not validate), and truly embrace their emotions, I have had the unique opportunity of seeing this human experience as a much deeper Godly one. As humans, we all feel emotions, but as believers we have the opportunity to experience emotions as holy, and Christ honoring. 

In Exodus 34, God’s character is directly introduced for the first time in scripture. And with it comes a direct reference to the emotions of Yahweh – compassionate and gracious, slow to anger. From here, scripture abounds in the reference of so many of God’s deep and perfect feelings. He experiences: joy(Jeremiah 32:41), jealousy(Exodus 20:5), anger (Exodus 4:14), sorrow (Gen. 6-6). When He sends His only son Jesus to walk among us, He does so “in the radiance of the glory of God” (Heb. 1:3). From the very beginning of Jesus’ walk on Earth, he feels. He feels troubled (Mark 14:33), and angry (Matthew 21:12). He sighs, weeps (John 11:35), rejoices. 

In scripture, God’s compassion is referred to in Hebrew as Rakhum. Rakhum directly translates to womb. In this depiction of God and His compassion He is equated to the most sacred, safe, and comforting part of any nurturing mother. His compassion is deeply inherent and wildly robust. He is moved by His people and cares for them to a biological level – wanting nothing more than to love them. 

God’s anger is known as Kana. Translated directly from Hebrew to jealous God. When we think of jealousy, we think of coveting something that is not ours. When we refer to God being jealous we see it as a reflection of His love through a deep protective instinct. God’s jealousy is not possessive or insecure, it is passionate and loving. 

If Yahweh feels, and Jesus feels – feelings must be a truly perfect and holy experience ordained and gifted by God for humans to experience. 

As we are made in His image, we are therefore made to connect to Him through our vast array of feelings. However, it  is through the Holy Spirit that we are to discern when those feelings are human led versus God given and Christ honoring.

Emotions are a gage – not a guide. 

Emotions help us to understand a situation, what we value, how we think, but should never dictate how we live or make decisions. Just as the Holy Spirit can use these feelings to help honor and reflect God, Satan can also use them to cloud your mind and harden your heart. 

Only God is God. Our thoughts are not God. 

The Word is what defines truth. We must use that truth to determine how to respond, not our own perceptions and thoughts. By using God’s truth as an anchor for our emotions, we can experience them in a more holy way. We can be obedient to the will of Christ and not the will of our deceitful heart. 

“Stand firm then, with the belt of truth” Ephesians 6:14

So what are some practical ways to decipher between a feeling being a guide of the Holy Spirit for our reactions vs a clouded human perception led by unholy distractions?

Consider the following 3 common feelings. Note what the human expression of them would look like and contrast that with the divine expression. 

Emotion	Inappropriate	Appropriate
Anger	Impatience, unkindness, displeasure	Indignation toward sin, reconciliation
Fear	Negative judgements, worry over uncontrollable things	Fear (reverence) for the Lord
Sadness	Self pity, distrust	Mourning, lament, sorrow

Utilizing these as an example – use tools like the feeling wheel below to identify where an emotion is expressed in the bible and how it is expressed when God inspired. Through the truth of scripture we can better navigate how to know when our feelings are appropriate (valid) and can be a guide to our actions. If the truth of scripture points away from what we are feeling as an appropriate expression, honor where this feeling is coming from, but don’t allow it to dictate your response. 

If you want to learn more about having more biblical based feelings, turn to Anchored Hope Counseling in Kannapolis, NC. Anchored Hope Counseling provides a wide range of therapy services from couples counseling to personal one-on-one sessions. View a list of our offerings online, or schedule a consultation today. If you liked these tips remember to subscribe  to our weekly blog for more news and insights.