Learning to Embrace Your Emotions

Throughout my life, many people have considered me to be too emotional or too sensitive. Despite my attempts to bury my feelings or put a wall up to people, I still carried the intense weight of my emotions.

I have always been the type of person who wears their heart on their sleeve, which often puts me in a vulnerable situation. I used to find it frustrating because I could not simply turn my emotions off and on, like a light switch. They were always on.

Most of the emotions I have tend to be overwhelming. I experience high highs and extremely low lows. I've often felt stuck, allowing my emotions to consume me.

When I felt upset or anxious, I usually felt the urge to isolate myself. I had the urge to hide away whenever my emotions became too much for me to bear. From my locked bedroom to a bathroom stall, I would unleash all of the emotions I tried to bottle up.

I felt like it wasn't normal for me to be experiencing so many emotions.

Growing up as a Christian, I have heard the story of Job more times than I can count. Job's life was filled with prestige and possessions, until the moment it was all taken from him. He demonstrated that his life was built on God even as it was stripped to its very foundation. Rereading this story as a 23 year-old, another theme became evident to me. Although Job stayed faithful to God, he never once attempted to hide his overwhelming grief. Job never tried to numb his feelings or simply turn them off, but rather, he was completely transparent with how he felt to God.

God gave us the ability to have emotions. It is not inappropriate for us to express them.

We can openly admit our feelings to ourselves, God, and other people in our lives.

God also gives us the freedom to choose how we will act in regards to our emotions.

Therefore, it is vital that we are able to navigate our emotions carefully.

I have learned the importance of allowing myself time and space to process my emotions. Instead of trying downplay or overlook my emotions, I welcome them.

By expanding my self-awareness, I have influence on the outcome of what I'm facing. It enables me to make better decisions and understand things from a different perspective. I can identify my strengths and weaknesses, learning how to improve in certain areas.

Self-awareness allows me to see how God is working in my life & how He might use me.

The picture above is a trail that I used to pass during my transit between home and my college town, Milledgeville. I always thought about stopping by, taking time out of my day to enjoy the peaceful area.

After four years of college, I never ended up there. Every time I drove past it, I was in a rush to get from one place to the next. I was too busy thinking about the next thing on my mind and my agenda. Recently, I found myself taking a similar route when visiting my friend from out of town. I finally decided to make a stop. I wanted to slow down and acknowledge my emotions in the present time, instead of worrying about what came next. By processing my emotions, I can find the freedom to overcome them.

It is okay to truly take time to process how you are feeling. Even with personal limitations, there is still room for growth. Take time to continue learning more about yourself.

We were created in God's own image.

As God experiences His own emotions, we also deal with our own.

Jesus experienced many of the same emotions we often feel during His life on earth: joy, compassion, anger, sadness, grief, and fear. The difference between us and Jesus is that He expressed these emotions appropriately in every circumstance. He refrained Himself from acting in a way that was self-serving, which is what humans are often inclined to do. Jesus' emotions accurately reflected God as He acted in a way that was consistent with God's will. He did not let His emotions prevent Himself from living out God's purpose.

Jesus was unhindered by emotional burdens.

Before sin entered the world, it is likely that emotions allowed humans to learn more information about themselves and also helped them establish intimate relationships with others. Emotions could be used as a tool to deepen their motivational systems. Humans had the ability to fully comprehend and appreciate the world that God created for them.

Unfortunately, the fall of humankind and the arrival of sin impacted how humans could function. Sin is a catalyst for destruction because it creates ambivalence, conflict, and disharmony between humans. From perfectly created beings, we became bent.

Humans became hindered by emotional burdens, which led to negative actions.

Our ability to act on our emotions is impaired because we live in a culture that is predisposed toward sin. Our image of God has become tainted and distorted, in which we no longer reflect His image accurately. Sin often limits us and causes us to express our emotions in inappropriate ways. We express our emotions in ways that are inconsistent to God's will. We continue to allow ourselves to be influenced by evil and upright impulses.

Jesus allows us to become new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17).

He gives us the necessary capacities and resources to handle our emotions when we fully rely on Him. We must express our emotions in a way that is open and constructive. When we gain more awareness of how we feel, we can make a moral decision on how we will act afterwards. God can help us control our habits, motives, and impulses.

We are no longer tethered to our emotional burdens when we rely on His strength.

When deliberating our emotions, we should be introspective and prayerful.

Although our emotions are involuntary, they do not control our behavior.

We can choose how to act on them.