May you experience Jesus as the lover of your soul as the year draws to an end. Our soul is the place where our emotions, amongst other things, reside. It is around our emotions, specifically, where I aim to inspire hope.
Many of us have been taken captive by our emotions because they have come to dictate, to a great extent, what we say and do not say Z as well as what we do and do not do.
Within the faith community, the reaction to this type of bondage is often to undervalue, shame, suppress or resent our emotions.
Some even consider them to be inherently “evil”.
The truth is, however, that God, in His wisdom, chose to design us with emotions.
Yes, some of us express and share our emotions more easily. But universally, all humans have emotions. It is vital to understand that when God reflected on the creation of Adam and Eve and declared that it was good, emotions were included in this valuation.
We need to rid emotions of shame. Feeling something is not the problem. How we interpret what we feel and what we do with it, however, is. When we can view emotions as indicators to something deeper to be explored in a constructive way, we will have much more compassion with ourselves and, in turn, with others.
Our souls will be much healthier when we see emotions as indicators of possible lies or unhealed hurts, instead of directives for how we should react and the conclusions we should draw. As directives they will be misused by the enemy to lead us into isolation, destruction, hostility, and other sinful reactions.
As indicators, however, they become powerful instruments for inner healing. They can bring us to a greater awareness of our internal state and create an opportunity for uncovering where our belief system about ourselves, others, God, etc. is not based on truth.
They reveal where we have partnered with lies like: “I am powerless, unwanted, and not enough” or “things will never change, everyone is against me, and I cannot control myself.”
So instead of undervaluing, resenting, shaming, and suppressing our emotions, may we come to experience Jesus as the sympathetic High Priest in them (Hebrews 4:15-16). May our emotions become a meeting place between us and Jesus. He who knows what it is to feel grief, sadness, anger, betrayal, disappointment, anguish, and yet be without sin. May we enter His presence with boldness and allow the Holy Spirit to comfort and heal by bringing truth. His truth always liberates, as stated in 2 Corinthians 3:17.
So again, may you encounter Jesus as the lover of your soul as the year draws to an end. He longs to be this for you, the one He loves without rival.)Romien Joubert is of the Lighuis Jesus-bediening.
