Jon shared a lot on Sunday around Emotional Health and how Redeemer views emotion.
"We are committed to looking beneath the surface of each of our lives in order to be holistically transformed by the power of Jesus. Pursuing emotional health is a lifelong journey that includes dealing with your past, family of origin, narrative scripts, emotions etc. in order to love God and our neighbor as ourselves."
We started by doing some self examination. What type of emotional person are you? Are you highly emotional? Do you always act like everything is ok but buried deep is a ton of emotion? Are you anti-emotion? Are you the excitable/fun emotional person?
Jon recommended you ask those closest to you about behaviors based on what type you are. Get feedback/insight from those who know you best.
We examined what emotion are, what they are for, and what we do with them. We started off in Genesis where God displayed His emotion. He delighted in what He created. Emotion is good. We are made that way. Genesis 1:4, 2:2, 2:9, 2:18, 2:25. When we get to chapter 3 of Genesis, Satan tells a lie and uses Eve's delight in wanting the forbidden fruit to bring about shame, guilt and awareness of nakedness. Genesis 3:3-7, 8-10.
Emotion causes us to act or move. Genesis 4:7 is sometimes mistranslated. Some understand it to mean we need logic to rule over our emotions, but we believe we need both. We need logic and emotion. Our emotions are distorted because of our fall from Christ. We are sinners and we need logic to work together and guide our emotions.
Christians tend to be more disturbed by emotions than non-Christians. Many see it as a spiritual failure and attach guilt and shame. It is OK to express emotion. We are created to take in the world, let it affect us and take it to God. We serve a loving God who is relational. We are a church that wants you to pour out your emotion no matter what it is. In Ephesians 4 it says "Be angry." We learn emotion from those around us and by witnessing how they handle it. It's important to look at your past and evaluate how your family handled emotion. Emotions help us perceive the world and act, emotions communicate value, emotions help us connect, and emotions motivate us. John 11:32-37, Romans 12:15, Psalms 62:8. Emotions also turn us towards God.
What do we do with emotions?
Identify them: Ask others around you. How do my emotions show up?
Examine them: Why am I feeling this way. Why do I react this way?
Evaluate them: Does this align with Jesus? This is a great spot to invite others in to speak to this.
Act: What changes do I need to consider based on self evaluation and feedback?
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