Feeling vs. Acting on intense emotions
July 27th, 2010
Posted by Chris
A couple of weeks ago my children were having a rare moment of acting out intense emotions. (Insert sarcastic tone at “rare”)
It seemed like a good teaching moment so I dove in.
I wanted them to know it is ok to feel intense emotions. Emotions help define our humanity. And we often act out from our intense emotions. Imagine my delight when I explained that Jesus had intense emotion and acted on those emotions. Laughter and crying seemed to make sense to them and help them relate to the humanity of Jesus. But when I told them the story of Jesus acting out His intense emotion in the temple they couldn’t believe it. I promised that it was in the Bible. Then they believed it.
So is it ok to feel intense emotion? Absolutely.
Is it ok to act out of that intense emotion? Yes. Joy, sadness, and everything in between will bring different actions.
If your sister steals your seat on the couch give yourself permission to feel strong emotion.
But you can’t ALWAYS act on those intense emotions. So don’t push your sister. Remember my audience? You’ll have to insert your own application.
Where do you feel intense emotion? Any actions to take? Any actions to avoid? The BEST way to avoid taking action in intense emotion that you should be avoiding is to pray or dump those feelings on God. He knows. He cares.
Sister steals brother chair. Sister says “I
didn’t see your name on it.” Brother takes
permanent marker and writes his name on the
chair. Both in BIG trouble!! Actually happened to me and my brother. Sorry your example reminded me. The story has been a source of laughter for many years between us.
Your point is spot on. We can feel and acknowledge the emotions but more often than not, we will have to exercise self-control.
Great story!