What do our emotions tell us about our lives?

Men especially have difficulty paying attention to their emotions. Some men would admit to having only two primary emotions: Anger and Hunger. But when I pay attention to my heart attitudes and emotions, I realize that the Holy Spirit and my brain are sending SIGNALS to my consciousness that there’s something going on deep inside of me. Emotions, like those red warning lights on the dashboard of our cars, are often the means that the Lord uses to bring about change and repentance. So I am learning to pay attention when I feel anger or anxiety. I’m learning to notice when I feel too confident or arrogant. And I’m starting to wake up to myself when I’m tempted to lose self-control or when I feel depressed and hopeless.

Here’s what our emotions could be telling us about our lives:

• Anger = often reveals an inordinate and yet unattained goal that your heart feels worthless without.
• Anxiety = often reveals an exaggerated need for security.
• Arrogance – reveals an inordinate confidence in a human attribute that in your heart makes you feel superior.
• Tempted to lose self-control – reveals an excessive appetite that your heart needs satisfied to be happy.
• Despair – reveals a false reliance on something that you once possessed but now you’ve lost and your heart thinks there’s no hope for you.

So when we find these emotions present in ourselves, it is a signal that I need to spend some time with God, His Word and His People. We need to talk about these things to someone (God and/or a trusted, wise Friend, or counselor) who can understand and empathize with our situation. Paying attention to the emotions and seeking to understand their source is a big part of keeping short accounts with God, confessing our sins and living a life of repentance.