274: Are Emotions Sinful? How Can We Honor Emotions While Also Honoring Biblical Truth?
Many Christians wonder– are emotions sinful? Join me today as I help ease the burden of how to process emotions with 5 truths that can help us honor both emotions and Biblical truth.
Looking for a resource on how to navigate emotions for Christians (that’s also based on science)? Join the book launch team for my new book, Emotional Confidence!
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:
- [0:33] Everything (Including Our Emotions!) Must Come Under The Authority of Biblical Truth
- [4:05] Emotions Are Like a Fire in a Fireplace – We Need to Allow Them to Live in The Healthy Confines of God’s Word
- [08:19] Are Emotions Sinful?
- [14:12] 5 Truths That Can Help Us Honor Both Emotions and Biblical Truth
- [21:54] Want Support In Processing Emotions? Join The Book Launch Team for Emotional Confidence to Start Your Journey!
[0:33] Everything (Including Our Emotions!) Must Come Under The Authority of Biblical Truth
Have you ever heard these statements or thought of them yourself?
-Emotions are unnecessary
-Emotions are wrong
-Emotions are bad
-Emotions are sinful
-Emotions are little liars
Emotions get a bad rep, and rightly so. They are often misunderstood “black sheep” parts of ourselves that we all encounter but many of us do not know how to deal within a healthy way. A lot of times we find that emotions keep us from living the way we want to live for Christ or they drag us away to do things we do not want to do. And as humans, we also tend to demonize things that we do not understand. If we feel as if they are leading us away from following Christ, we are tempted to call them bad. This is honorable because we want to make sure that everything we do is in line with becoming closer to Him
First, it is completely fair to ask the question “Are emotions sinful?” and if they are not sinful, then what do we do with them in light of biblical truth? When people make statements about emotions being bad, I realize that they do not understand the nature of emotions to begin with. There is also not a true application of emotions in Scripture. I want to explore some of this today and if you do not agree with me, I would love to chat about it! Reach out to me on Instagram to share your thoughts.
I want us to feel confident in knowing that emotions are not sinful and that we can honor them while also honoring Biblical truth. I do want to remind you that everything in creation, including our emotions, must come under the authority of Biblical truth. So there is never a time where we can justify before God and say “Well, I felt like this and I know you said this is not true but I felt that way so I did it.” Emotions always have to come under God's authority, because they are created by God.
[4:05] Emotions Are Like a Fire in a Fireplace – We Need to Allow Them to Live in The Healthy Confines of God’s Word
The best analogy I can give for emotions is the idea of fire. We all know that fire in a fireplace is managed and controlled. It is given the chance to flare and quiet down, it can be big or small, it gives us warmth on a cold night, and it is beautiful for us to look at. This is how emotions can be too. They are beautiful to experience and if we push down our emotions, we will never be able to experience the good. All of our emotions make us human and we can partner with God and connect with Him on how we feel. We are very unique in how we experience emotions.
A fire in a fireplace is given the chance to be itself within this safe container of a metal box that we call a fireplace. When we take that same concept of fire and throw it in the middle of a forest, it kills wildlife, it destroys homes, it hurts, and it is out of control. And when our emotions are not contained by the reality of the truth of God, they can flare and cause all kinds of damaging, hurtful, and destructive actions. This is what makes emotions sinful and painful. It is the action that comes from it.
Like a fire in a fireplace, our emotions can live in that safety zone of God’s word. We can experience the feelings but we do not have to let them spread beyond the safety of that container. The emotions we feel are a natural part of how we are wired. God created emotions as sensory tools to help us understand and respond to our world. They are indicators of what is going on inside and ways to tell if something is “off”. They are check engine lights for our souls.
As I say in the book Emotional Confidence: 3 Simple Steps to Manage Emotions with Science and Scripture, emotions should be viewed not as an enemy to fight, but as a curiosity to consider. They are a normal part of how we are created as humans, but we still need to make sure that, like that fire in a fireplace, they are contained within reality and not acted upon outside of what God's word says.
[08:19] Are Emotions Sinful?
So if we dive deeper into the question “Are emotions sinful?” I would tell you that our emotions can certainly affect our willingness to obey God. We are told to guard our hearts and not let them be deceived. We are also told to take every thought captive to better manage temptation and not step into sin. We see this in the following verses:
The Bible also advises us not to let the sun go down on our anger or to nurse hatred toward others to avoid sinful actions. A few great verses on that are:
And further, Romans 8:6 encourages us to allow the Spirit to control our minds so that we can cultivate life and peace. So again, we are told to guard our hearts around emotions and to make sure that those things are not swaying our ability to follow the truth.
Here is something to consider: God can use emotion to stir the hearts of His people toward obedience, which further demonstrates that emotions themselves are not sinful. For example, if you have been told for years that you need to change your diet and all of a sudden you have a medical crisis that came on because you did not change your diet, you can use the emotions you are feeling around this to make healthy changes.
One example of that is in Deuteronomy 31:4-6, where Moses is encouraging the Israelites to stay obedient to God by reminding them to view their emotionally challenging circumstances, not with despair, but with courage and bravery. He did not tell them to stop feeling, he told them to harness these emotions towards doing good. And how he tells them to do that is by believing in who God is, knowing that He is loving, and knowing that He has good plans for them. When we think of it this way, we can then use God’s truth to help us to choose the right emotion.
As we think about the question “Can emotions be a sin?” more deeply, we can think about how when we make an internal judgment about someone or look at them lustfully, God thinks of those actions as a sin. Jesus speaks of this concept in Matthew 5:28, when He says, “Anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” So in this situation, it is important to note that previous thoughts like “that person's really attractive” led to this sinful decision inside to lust. When we look at how our brain is put together, every emotion is first caused by a thought. So since we are responsible for all of our decisions, internal or external, it makes sense that Jesus would call those thoughts a sin because they resulted in a sinful action. Even though that lust was not outwardly expressed, it was still a sinful action done in the heart.
In the book, we explore the idea that God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit all show emotions in different ways. If emotions were inherently sinful, then it would not be possible for the members of the Trinity to experience emotions like anger or sadness while remaining holy. While we do not always handle emotions perfectly because we are flawed, if the question is, “Are emotions sinful?” the answer is no. We see examples in the Bible where God experiences emotions like grief, anger, and sadness – holy versions of these feelings. Emotions and thoughts can indeed lead us to make sinful choices, but they are not sinful in and of themselves.
[14:12] 5 Truths That Can Help Us Honor Both Emotions and Biblical Truth
So how can we honor emotions while also honoring biblical truth? My book, Emotional Confidence: 3 Simple Steps to Manage Emotions with Science and Scripture, talks a lot about this. The three steps I teach in the book allow us to honor emotions, honor the truth, and make a decision that is going to hold both together. This method gives you a way to process specific emotions like anger, disappointment, and loneliness in a step-by-step process. It helps you live out this process in a practical way. I also want to share 5 truths about honoring both emotions and Biblical truth together.
First, God designed us as emotional beings – our emotions are part of how we are uniquely wired as humans. God gave us emotions and they are a normal, natural part of how we were made. Just as God would not create any part of our body to be inherently sinful, our emotions are not inherently wrong or evil. Like our hands, arms, or legs, which can be used for good or harm, our emotions are simply a part of us. While we can misuse any aspect of ourselves, the emotions themselves are not sinful.
The second truth is that God wants to meet our unique emotional needs. In the book, we talk about how we are all wired to have emotional needs. Every culture at any point in history has the need to be loved, to be heard, to belong, and to be cared for. This is why we have these universal connection points as humans to each other and God. God wants to be the primary one who meets these needs for us through our relationship with Him. Our emotional needs are not inherently bad, they are part of how we are designed.
The third truth is that God welcomes us in our emotional messiness and wants to help us manage our emotions. We see this in Jesus’ encounter with the woman caught in adultery, He does not condemn her but instead looks at her with love and says “Go and sin no more”. Even in her messy state, He invites her in.
The Psalms are another powerful example, if you want to see emotional messiness at its finest, read them. David's an emotional hot mess and we can all relate to him in his emotional ups and downs. We can see examples of emotional messiness and ways that God demonstrates how he actively helps us manage our emotions throughout these passages.
The fourth truth is that we can experience joy and peace while still acknowledging uncomfortable emotions. If you have ever been around someone who truly understands and lives this out, you know what I mean. Think about someone who is terminally ill or someone who has lost their job, they have every reason to feel upset or depressed, and they probably do feel those things. But at the same time, they can also genuinely feel joy, peace, and comfort from God. It is possible to hold both sets of emotions at once. There is enough space to be honest and raw with God about all our feelings because that is part of who we are.
We are people who are constantly dealing with conflicting emotions. We are people who are redeemed by God, but we are not in our fullest version of redemption until we get to heaven. We live in this in-between space where we can see both the evil and the good in the world. So yes, we can stand in joy and peace while feeling uncomfortable emotions, which shows us that emotions are not all bad – they help us connect with God in meaningful ways.
The final truth about emotions that helps us see they’re not evil or something to demonize is that emotions are real, but they are not God’s complete truth. Emotions are expressions of what is going on inside us, but since we are human, they are imperfect expressions. We will not fully understand or express ourselves completely until we are in heaven, united with God, with redeemed bodies. That is why emotions need to come under the authority of God’s truth. They are real and part of who we are, but they are not the full truth. So while emotions need to be guarded and guided by Scripture, that does not make them evil. It just means they need to be understood, honored, and handled within the light of God’s word.
[21:54] Want Support In Processing Emotions? Join The Book Launch Team for Emotional Confidence to Start Your Journey!
Feelings are important and in my book, Emotional Confidence, we talk about the process of acknowledging our emotions, understanding why it makes sense they are there, discerning the truth within what we're feeling, and letting that guide us to how we are going to respond. The book walks you through how to process emotions with Christ, including:
– Questions to ask yourself at each step
– Scriptures to support you throughout this process
–How to write a statement that expresses your feelings and helps you balance emotions and truth
– Examples of how to do all of this in short and extended versions
I cannot wait for you to learn the process that I have been teaching women for years. Read the book or listen to the audiobook and practice these exercises. Live with it, experiment with it, and apply it to your life. If this is a topic you are passionate about and you want to help others learn about emotions or support my work, then please Join The Book Launch Team for Emotional Confidence. This is super simple all you have to do is:
- Pre-order Emotional Confidence on Amazon
- Share about the book in some capacity whether that is on social media or with a friend
- Once the book is live, write a review on Amazon or Goodreads
In return, book launch team members get an early-reader copy of the book plus other exclusive bonuses!
This book is full of specific tools that can help you build your emotional confidence. I would love to have you as part of the launch team and please share it with anyone that you believe would be interested! Sign up now to be part of the book launch team at this link. I hope this was encouraging to you and helped to lift a burden off of your shoulders. I want you to know that it can be possible for you to hold both emotions and Biblical truth together – I live it and see it every day!
RESOURCES:
Tired of up-and-down feelings stealing your peace, sabotaging your relationships, and filling your mind with self-defeating thoughts? If so, make sure to join the launch team for my new book, “Emotional Confidence: 3 Simple Steps to Manage Emotions with Science and Scripture”, coming November 12th!
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