Dealing with Feelings
Unpopular – Week 4 – October 20, 2024
Dealing with Feelings
2 Corinthians 10:5
- Emotional Health- The ability to manage feelings, think, and cope with life events.
- When conflict arises, we can have effective confrontations!
- Inward-focused tools- Self-Awareness, Self-Belief, and Self-Regulation
- Outward-focused tools- Social Awareness, Belief About Others, and Relationship Skills.
1. Think Before Acting
“casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ;” -2 Corinthians 10:5 (ASV)
2. Identify Feelings
“Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and body with grief.” -Psalms 31:9 (NIV)
“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” -Psalm 139:23-24 (ESV)
3. Be Aware Of Emotions And Reactions
5. Test and evaluate yourselves to see whether you are in the faith and living your lives as [committed] believers. Examine yourselves [not me]! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves [by an ongoing experience] that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test and are rejected as counterfeit? -2 Corinthians 13:5
“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” -Philippians 2:3 (ESV)
4. Express Emotions Appropriately
5. Stress Management
“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” -John 14:27 (NLT)
“Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.” -Psalm 55:22 (NIV)
“And which of you by worrying can add a single day to his life’s span?” -Matthew 6:27 (NASB)
6. Coping Skills
“6. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” -Philippians 4:6-7 (NASB)
“3 Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man. 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” -Proverbs 3:3-6 (ESV)
7. Connecting With Others
“18 Everything is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed the message of reconciliation to us. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, certain that God is appealing through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.” -2 Corinthians 5:18-20 (HCSB)
- Connect Relationally
- We’ve been lied to or are lying to ourselves.
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? 10 “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” -Jeremiah 17:9-10 (ESV)
22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! -Galatians 5:22-23 (NLT)
- Pray for God’s wisdom: Ask God to help recognize and evaluate your emotions.
- Receive God’s grace: Acknowledge difficult days and ask for God’s grace.
- Ask for help: Don’t be afraid to reach out to a trusted friend, pastor, or counselor for help. Get connected to someone who can help you!