Emotions can be a confusing thing for Christians. Sometimes we are made to feel that it’s wrong to have certain emotions, like sadness or anger. I know many believers who have experienced those emotions and been told that they shouldn’t be. Somehow a Christian is supposed to be exempt from being human, I guess.
But emotions were put inside of us by God. We didn’t put them there. We can’t always control them. They just sometimes spring up. However we can control the direction we take with our emotions.
I think it would be very freeing for many Christians to understand that emotions are OK. How do I know? I know that emotions are OK because Jesus had them.
Remember the story of Jesus overthrowing some tables in the temple? Depending on what version of the Bible you read, you get these descriptions. “Jesus entered the temple area and drove out…” “He knocked over the tables of the money changers…” “He overturned the tables…” “Then Jesus went into the temple, threw out everyone…”
Guess what emotion He was feeling? You can’t tell me He was driving or throwing people out, knocking over or overturning tables and doing it with a smile on His face. He had a righteous anger. Anger is an emotion that Jesus experienced.
What about the moment He was in the Garden of Gethsemane? Words that describe how He was feeling include that His soul was sad, He was deeply grieved and almost dying of sorrow. Is that not depression? Depression is a sadness that goes deeper than just feeling sorrowful. It can be so powerful that you literally feel as Jesus was described, almost dying of it.
Emotions are part of our makeup as human beings. They shouldn’t be shunned. They shouldn’t be hidden. Jesus had emotions, He expressed those emotions and so should we. Remember, the important thing is not that we have an emotion. It is what we do with that emotion.
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