Curbing Our Emotions

“The emotions that need to be controlled include anger and rage, resentment, and self-pity, and bitterness. The feelings may be explosive, as in the case of an uncontrolled temper, or they may be only simmering, as in the case of self-pity. But in either case these emotions are displeasing to God and need to be included in our efforts to exercise self-control.”

Having a temper that requires control is not a mark of ungodliness; to fail to control it is. To succeed, by God’s grace, in controlling an unruly temper is to demonstrate godly self-control. The person who struggles, often with failure, to control his temper should take to heart God’s view of this struggle and be willing to pay the price necessary to succeed in it.

Other ways we need to watch our emotions are in the area's of, resentment, bitterness, and self-pity. These issues are a huge hindrance in our relationships with God. Resentment, bitterness, and self-pity build up inside our hearts and eat at our spiritual lives like a slowly spreading cancer. All of these sinful inner emotions have in common a focus on self- ME and that’s all that matters! They can very easily become idols to us. We nurture resentment and bitterness, and we wallow in self-pity. We know that in all things God works for our good and that nothing can separate us from his love, but many times in defiance of these truths, we choose to think about that which is dishonoring to God and tearing down our spiritual health. “Keeping a tight grip on our emotions is just a necessary to godliness as keeping the appetites and desire of our bodies under control.”

Let’s not judge others for their lacking in self-control. Let’s look at our lives and see what our own areas of struggle and sin are that we battle daily. Let’s pray for inner strength to curb our passions and desires. For it is God who works in us! The more we say no to sinful desires, the more we will be able to say no. In order to do this we must persevere through many failures. We will learn self-control as we break bad habits and replace them with good ones!

“As we grow in the grace of self-control, we will experience the liberation of those who, under the guidance and grace of the Holy Spirit, are freed from the shackles of self-indulgence and are brought into the freedom of true spiritual discipline.”