We are created to have emotions, not for emotions to have us.
“7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” —2 Timothy 1:7
The enemy attacks our emotions in hopes of disconnecting us from God and people.
“6 And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’” —James 4:6
“According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere flea bites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind…… it is Pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began.”
– C.S. Lewis
Our emotions help connect us to God and people.
“12 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ.13 Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit… 26 If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.” —1 Corinthians 12:12-13,26
“35 Then Jesus wept.” —John 11:35
“11 Soon afterward Jesus went with his disciples to the village of Nain, and a large crowd followed him. 12 A funeral procession was coming out as he approached the village gate. The young man who had died was a widow’s only son, and a large crowd from the village was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, his heart overflowed with compassion. “Don’t cry!” he said.”
—Luke 7:11-13
We are created with a capacity to feel deeply.
“6 My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar. 7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.”
—Psalm 42:6-7 (NIV)