A sound mind makes for a robust body, but runaway emotions corrode the bones. Proverbs 14:30 MSG
Lao Tzu is a legendary Chinese philosopher who is credited with saying, “Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny.” The original inspiration for those thoughts come from the heart of God and are recorded all throughout the Bible, in teaching and illustrations from the lives of biblical characters.
The Bible often says that the heart is the seat of our emotions, and our emotions are critical. Our emotions are intertwined with our thoughts, starting the process Lao Tzu described. They tell us when we have sorrow; they tell us when we have pain; they tell us when we have joy. In fact, all too often our emotions direct our actions and form our character. But our emotions are meant to be a GAUGE of where we are, not a GUIDE for where to go. Our emotions will lie to us and lead us into extreme emotional unhealth if we aren’t proactively guarding our minds.
How do we guard our minds and emotional health? First, we bring everything to God in prayer (Philippians 4:6-7) and ask Him for His help in deciding to think on the good and positive. Philippians 4:8 NLT, written by Paul who had every reason to be an emotional wreck, says, “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” Our emotions are controlled by our thoughts. Think of how your emotional health might improve if you prayerfully worked with God to fix/focus your thoughts in these ways. Then, listen perceptively to your emotions. They can warn you that you are overtired and this is not a good time to make a decision. But they can be fickle and lie to you as well. If you want to be emotionally healthy, you can’t just take your emotion’s word for it. Calmly sort out what you feel, and find truth that will still be truth when the emotion or the circumstance has passed. Lastly, learn to protect your emotional life. We do that by taking care of our bodies – relaxing, getting rest and exercise, eating right. We do it by refusing to stew on things. We determine to keep short accounts with God and people, forgiving and asking forgiveness quickly. We don’t STUFF things – we SORT and process them in the proper season, with God’s help. We deal daily to the best of our ability with God with the events and the emotions of the day so that the next day will not be tainted and infected with leftover emotions.
- Tell your emotions, “You’re not the boss of me!” Work with God to custom design your strategy for keeping them in proper perspective and expression.