Frequently Asked Questions about Emotions
Why should I deal with my emotions and
fears instead of stuffing or suppressing them?
By suppressing
the emotions, you do not heal. Suppressing the emotions can make you
emotionally numb so you do not feel any more. You may not feel sad or be crying
any more but you will not feel joy either. One person said she did not feel
human either. Suppressing emotions causes stress and saps energy. It is work to
keep suppressing emotions. Suppressing emotions can contribute to nightmares
and a nervous breakdown.
When I speak of
dealing with your emotions, I am saying that the thinking that causes the
emotions needs to be brought in line with biblical teaching so that the fears
and other unwanted emotions go away. By example, the fear of dying can be
overcome by knowing it is wonderful to be with Jesus for all eternity. A
person, who loves Jesus and longs to be with Him, will not fear death. Read
Phil. 1:19-23. Sometimes the unknown means of how we are going to get from here
to heaven can make us wonder, but the thought of being in heaven with Jesus is
wonderful. Dealing with your emotions is not deliberately thinking through the
traumatic event you lived through in the past. It is discovering the wrong
thinking that is causing the emotion, and then changing the thinking or the
perspective on it so the emotion goes away. Find verses that relate to your
fears or bad emotions. Meditate on those verses and memorize them. Verse can be
found in the indexes in both of my books.
By finding out
what thinking causes your fears and sad emotions, you can then learn how God
wants you to think or view the situation you face. Bring your thoughts in line
with God’s thoughts and perspectives on life. If you know everything is going
to turn out alright every time, you have no reason to fear. Rom.
More on this
subject can be found in the chapter on “Renewing the Mind” in Hope for the
Brokenhearted.