Category: Emotions

Pride is dealt with numerous times in scripture.  Here are some of them.

Psalm 10:2 The wicked in his pride persecutes the poor; Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.

Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Proverbs 13:10 By pride comes nothing but strife, But with the well-advised is wisdom.

So how do I know when pride is rising within me?  The key is in that last verse… strife is the indicator of pride.  Can we apply this to our personal Road Rage?  I think so. When I can hardly believe what some other driver has done could I be proud of my own driving style?  Have I ever done something unexpected or dangerous when I was driving?  Maybe that’s a poor example. What bugs (strife) me about my spouse?  Could that be because I think I can do it better? Is that pride? I think so.

Here’s a good scripture which applies…  Matthew 20:16 So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.”…  Are you one of the chosen to learn to be last instead of exercising pride and being first?  Here’s another one…  Matthew 10:39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it.

Can we each apply these things within or marriage?

 

Three different emotions we feel often can be dangerous.  They are pride, anger, and fear.  ChristianMarriageBuilder.org is posting one post on each and defining the danger of each.  Pride was the first negative emotion we are aware of in Scriptural History.  It is mentioned in Isaiah 14:13 where Satan is quoted as saying “‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north”  In other words, I will be like God.  

Fear became a problem in human life right after Adam and Eve sinned.  God was looking for Adam in the Garden of Eden, and when they meet up, Adam says “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself.” Genesis 3:10.

Anger became a problem for men the first time when Cain was angry with Able.  God says to Cain in Genesis 4:6,  “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? So each of these emotions has become a problem for us as people.  We will explore more about them in upcoming posts.

Most of us choose to just sweep anger under the rug.  We do this by giving it a less offensive name like disgust, or frustration, or disappointment.  When we avoid anger it just gains more power over us.  Then it is more likely to cause an explosion which damages others and our relationship with them, including our spouse.

With all its pet names, admit anger early on and own it as your own.  If you allow someone else to MAKE you angry, you have given away the control of your emotions to them.  If we have given away the control of our emotions then we do not have our own choices regarding how to handle it, and we cannot allow God to help us deal with anger.  In Genesis 4:7 God tells Cain to “rule over his anger”.  That can be applied to our anger.  If we have given away the control of our anger, we cannot rule over it.

Ephesians 4:26 tells us to not sin with our anger.  That means to not make someone else pay.  We do that by withdrawing, becoming passive aggressive, or talking negatively about them to others.  When that verse says to not let the sun go down on your wrath, it is saying deal with your anger, rule over it if you will, quickly, or you will take it out on someone else.

We escape to anger when the first emotion is too difficult or painful.

Jesus did have anger as an emotion, but it was after a primary emotion.  The most common example of that is when Jesus drove the money changers and merchants selling livestock for sacrifices out of the temple.  This incident is recorded in all four gospels but none of them say He was angry.  We assume because of His actions that He was angry and that is probably a safe assumption.  However, the book of John in John 2:17 gives us a look at His primary emotion where it says, Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.”  His primary emotion was zeal.

It is interesting that the money changers could pick up their money though it was dumped over and continue their business elsewhere.  Those who had cattle and sheep could gather up their herds and do business again.  Those who had doves could not have caught them again so Jesus just told them to take them away.  He didn’t destroy anyone’s livelihood.

Another time Jesus was angry is found in Mark 3:5 where it says, And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.”   His primary emotion was grief for the Sadducees which became anger.

To reach Dr. Renzema…  wrenzema@hotmail.com

Emotions, especially negative ones, are communications from God.

God made us in His image and He has emotions and many of them are mentioned in Scripture… His anger, His love, His jealousy, and others. We were given these emotions before the fall of man happened in the Garden of Eden, however negative emotions happened after the fall of man. We tend to distrust emotions and ignore them when they come and dismiss them as non-spiritual issues. I believe they are an important part of God’s communications with us. They do not tell us the truth of what happened, but we must trust them as indicators of what God is trying to accomplish in us. God has allowed everything in detail that comes our way, even everything we only become aware of and doesn’t directly affect us. He allows emotions for His purposes to accomplish something in us. He knew what the emotions would be in us surrounding a situation before he allowed it. This includes all emotions which arise out of anything our spouse does or does not do and does or does not say.

Remember that anger, as an emotion, is an escape from the root emotion He wants to use to direct His planned improvements in us. We must get the anger processed and out of the way before we can feel the emotion He has planned to use to direct our attention to what He wants us to accomplish in us.