Emotion
I have been thinking a great deal about emotions. They are strange, but wonderful things. They are one of the reasons we came to earth. We needed to experience them, both the good and the bad side of them. More importantly, we needed to learn to control them. They can both do damage if not managed correctly. Yes, even the good ones. It is for this reason that the Lord has set boundaries for us.
I have spent the past several evenings watching plays. Sitting in the audience, listening to the experiences, and watching the interaction between cast members has flooded my mind with memories and emotions. I have made it no secret that I loved to go to dances as a youth and truly enjoyed spending time with friends in the theater. It is in these locations and time spans that I learned a great deal about the bad part of good emotions as well as the good parts of bad emotions. I have been pondering what controls them.
I think the number one controller is Pride. Pride has such a strong push and pull on emotions. We become self absorbed. We don't see how our feelings affect other people, nor do we care how other people are feeling as long as our emotions and feelings are satisfied. My pride stepped in several times when people would tell me what to do or how to do it. I really disliked being treated as a lesser being on stage. This pride would often turn to anger or revenge.
When I found myself attracted to certain young women, Pride stepped in when I found them paying attention to other young men or found other young men paying attention to them. This pride almost always turned to jealousy.
When either of them raised their ugly heads, the outcome was not pleasant. It required that I turn them away. It was not easy, even today, it is hard. But the outcome is more pleasant.
On the other hand, these feelings of pride are good. I was proud and confident in my abilities. The hard part was not letting it go to my head so that I treated others the way I did not want to be treated. The feelings of attraction to the members of the opposite gender are normal, enjoyable, and pleasant. However, they are also very dangerous if not controlled within the guidelines and boundaries set by the Lord.
It is important that we all experience the roller coaster of emotions. The highs and the lows. In doing so, we need to learn our limitations as well. We need to know and understand ourselves and even at time set stricter or tighter boundaries for ourselves so that we never get close the point of going beyond the control we need.
Think about it. Find your boundaries. Find joy within those boundaries. You will find that your joy will be amplified greatly by the Lord when you do so.
I have spent the past several evenings watching plays. Sitting in the audience, listening to the experiences, and watching the interaction between cast members has flooded my mind with memories and emotions. I have made it no secret that I loved to go to dances as a youth and truly enjoyed spending time with friends in the theater. It is in these locations and time spans that I learned a great deal about the bad part of good emotions as well as the good parts of bad emotions. I have been pondering what controls them.
I think the number one controller is Pride. Pride has such a strong push and pull on emotions. We become self absorbed. We don't see how our feelings affect other people, nor do we care how other people are feeling as long as our emotions and feelings are satisfied. My pride stepped in several times when people would tell me what to do or how to do it. I really disliked being treated as a lesser being on stage. This pride would often turn to anger or revenge.
When I found myself attracted to certain young women, Pride stepped in when I found them paying attention to other young men or found other young men paying attention to them. This pride almost always turned to jealousy.
When either of them raised their ugly heads, the outcome was not pleasant. It required that I turn them away. It was not easy, even today, it is hard. But the outcome is more pleasant.
On the other hand, these feelings of pride are good. I was proud and confident in my abilities. The hard part was not letting it go to my head so that I treated others the way I did not want to be treated. The feelings of attraction to the members of the opposite gender are normal, enjoyable, and pleasant. However, they are also very dangerous if not controlled within the guidelines and boundaries set by the Lord.
It is important that we all experience the roller coaster of emotions. The highs and the lows. In doing so, we need to learn our limitations as well. We need to know and understand ourselves and even at time set stricter or tighter boundaries for ourselves so that we never get close the point of going beyond the control we need.
Think about it. Find your boundaries. Find joy within those boundaries. You will find that your joy will be amplified greatly by the Lord when you do so.
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