Despite growing up in the church, I would say that the church is not the first place that comes to mind as the place to go when someone has strong or overwhelming emotions. Maybe that has also been your experience or maybe you are not a church-goer? As a psychologist, I would put therapy or friends in that category of places to go to get help with your feelings and your pain. But, I do believe that the Lord welcomes people to come to Him with all of their feelings and overwhelm and confusion!
Some people may be thinking that emotions are problematic or just get in the way of logic (I see you, Type 5s), while others might think they are pointless or worthless or maybe even sinful. Some of you might be thinking, “What good are emotions anyway–they only lead to problems?!” This is exactly why we need to have good emotional awareness. Let me clarify. There is a difference between experiencing an emotion and the expression of that emotion. For many people, especially if they tend to dismiss emotions or are not emotionally aware, their automatic reactivity to emotion (their behavior or words) can be harmful or problematic when a strong reaction surfaces.
Let’s address the experiencing and sharing of emotions in the Bible because the church has often downplayed the importance of expressing emotions to God or in Christian community, despite the fact that the Psalms are full of emotions being brought before the Lord.
What the Bible has to say about emotions:
God created us in His image and it was very good (Genesis 1:27). He created us to experience emotions, just like He created us to think and analyze and create.
God created Adam and Eve. Before the Fall (before Adam and Eve sinned by eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil), Adam experienced loneliness (Genesis 2:20) and companionship (Genesis 2:23). Adam and Eve both experienced peace and a lack of shame (Genesis 2:25). Eve experienced envy (wanted the attractive and tasty fruit and wanted to gain wisdom). These emotions were present before sin entered the world, showing that emotions themselves are not sinful.
Another example where God shows that negative emotions are not sinful in and of themselves but that how a person responds or acts when feeling that way can be a problem or sin is in the story of Cain and Abel. Cain was jealous of his brother’s sacrifice to the Lord because the Lord did not look with favor on his own offering but did so with Abel’s. “So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you so angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.’” -Genesis 4:5-7 NIV
God wants us to come to Him with all our feelings because He provides comfort and healing.
>God welcomes our emotions
“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” -Hebrews 4:16 NIV
>God listens and pays attention to what we are feeling
“The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; He delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” -Psalm 34:17-18 NIV
>God feels what we feel and wants to comfort us
“The Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles.” -2 Corinthians 1:3 NIV
According to The Greater Good Magazine from the Greater Good Science Center at UC-Berkeley, “Compassion literally means ‘to suffer together.’ Among emotion researchers, it is defined as the feeling that arises when you are confronted with another’s suffering and feel motivated to relieve the suffering.” (https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/compassion/definition)
>God provides healing for our pain
“He [Lord] heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” -Psalm 147:3, Isaiah 61:1
God Himself experienced and verbalized emotions.
God expressed regret at creating humans and animals when humans were evil and violent (Genesis 6:5-8).
God got angry at the Israelites (many, many times) during the Exodus. He experienced anger toward their stubbornness (Exodus 32:9). He expressed anger toward the Israelites complaining about the lack of meat after He provided them with daily food by giving them manna from heaven. God responded by telling Moses He was going to give the Israelites so much meat that they would get sick of it. God got irritated at Moses for his lack of trust at God’s ability to provide the meat He promised (Numbers 11:18-23).
Jesus had compassion on the people/crowd and healed them and taught them (Mark 6:34, Matthew 14:14).
Jesus was sad and wept when His friend Lazurus died (John 11:35).
Jesus was angry that people were using the temple as a place for selfish gain, requiring people to buy their sacrifices in the temple, and using the only space where the gentiles were permitted. He displayed his righteous anger [much of human anger is probably not righteous] by overturning tables and yelling in the temple courts (Matthew 21:12-13; Mark 11:15-17; John 2:13-17).
| Examples of people in the Bible experiencing emotions | How God responded | Scripture |
| Adam and Eve experienced shame after they sinned and recognized that they were naked. | God responded by calling them out and then killing an animal to make skin coverings for them. | Genesis 3:10-21 |
| Moses frustrated and expressed to God about how difficult the Israelites were to manage because of their constant complaining and anger directed at him because he was their leader. Moses was so troubled about the burden of dealing with them that he asked the Lord to kill him. | God got angry at the Israelites for complaining about their food. God instructed Moses to choose 70 elders to come with him when he met with God and God would take some of power of the Spirit that was on Moses and give it to them, too. God provided elders to share the burden. | Numbers 11:10-17 |
| Joseph was imprisoned for doing nothing wrong (on multiple occasions). Specifically he was thrown in jail because his boss’ wife made false sexual accusations against him after he repeatedly declined her offers and avoided her. While in prison, he helped the king’s cupbearer and asked the cupbearer to remember him, which he did not for two years. He likely experienced feeling unjustly accused, not heard, forgotten. | God was with him and showed him kindness and favor in all he did. God put him in higher and higher positions of power in Egypt. | Genesis 39:6-41:1 |
| Hannah was in deep anguish and grief and cried bitterly as she prayed to the Lord. She wanted a child and was mistreated by her husband’s other wife because she was barren, even though her husband loved her more than his other wife. | Eli, the priest as a representative of God, blesses her after he realizes that she was not drunk. She was no longer downcast after praying. God did allow her to conceive a son (Samuel), whom she dedicated to the Lord. | 1 Samuel 1:1-28 |
| Two disciples of Jesus on the way to Emmaus after Jesus’ resurrection. They knew Jesus was dead and had heard rumors that He had appeared to the women on the Third day. The two men were feeling downcast–disappointed, confused, and hopeful as Jesus met them but was not recognizable to the men and began to explain to them what the scriptures said about the Messiah. | Jesus met them where they were, listened to their story, opened their eyes to the scriptures, and revealed Himself to them as they broke bread together. They were filled with joy and were quick to tell others about Jesus’ resurrection. | Luke 24:13-35 |
Advice that the Bible gives about emotions and how to handle emotions.
“Fools vent their anger, but the wise quietly hold it back.” -Proverbs 29:11 NLT
“People with understanding control their anger; a hot temper shows great foolishness.” -Proverbs 14:29 NLT
“And don’t sin by letting anger control you. Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry.” -Ephesians 4:26 NLT
“Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.” -James 1:9 NLT
“A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body; jealousy like cancer in the bones.” -Proverbs 14:30 NLT
“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” -Proverbs 4:23 NLT
“Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and He knows everything.” -1 John 3:20 NLT
“Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds.” -Philippians 4:7 NLT
If you are not sure how to label emotions or struggle to understand feelings, please sign-up to receive my FREE Feelings Chart and Tips on How To Use It.
Questions to ponder:
To whom do you take/share your emotions? Would you consider taking your feelings to God?
If God created you to experience emotions, how might you need to adjust your view of feelings?
How might God be using your emotions to bring you closer to Him?
Citations:
The Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV). (2011). Biblica, Inc. (Original work published in 1978.)
The Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT). (2015). Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
