The transformation was intellectual, emotional, and certainly spiritual.
Faith Can’t Survive on Intellect Alone.
The Israelites went from being enslaved in Egypt to wandering through the wilderness, entering into the Promised Land, and then being exiled in foreign lands. This is the timeline of the Old Testament. Based on a rational assessment of the history of the people of God, things didn’t look good. If they were looking at their situation from a purely intellectual standpoint, there was only a small season that merited rejoicing.
Against this backdrop, the people of Israel were told to have hope and rejoice. These are emotions. Hope is an emotion that envisions a better future. To rejoice is to feel an emotion of joy or happiness.
The trust we have in Jesus evoking an emotional response is a good thing.
We need hope in order for our faith to survive. We see way too much pain, sorrow, and tragedy every day. As we wait for the full redemption of Jesus to cover the earth, we aren’t to grow weary and discouraged but to rejoice and have hope.
Hope Is Not the Only Acceptable Emotion.
That being said, within the discussion of faith and emotions comes the question about which emotions are allowed. The door to allowing emotions in is only slightly cracked, because surely not all emotions are allowed in. Our sound doctrine will allow hope and joy. But that’s all.
Things like guilt, anger, bitterness, hopelessness, fear, and jealousy are not welcome. We know these are not the fruit of the Spirit and shouldn’t be present in our lives. So what do we do when they are? They get pushed down or buried underneath the emotions we are allowed to express. Or we recite all of the verses that speak to how anti-Christian these emotions are.
However, it might be more helpful to read about the people in Scripture who brought these emotions before the Lord. The Psalms are packed full of situations where the people of God brought ugly and unacceptable emotions before him. Just as importantly, some emotions that we categorize as negative can actually move our faith forward.
We are told to hate what is evil and to fear God. There is a place for a varying array of emotions in our spiritual lives. That might mean dealing with them and knowing that God can handle whatever they are. It might also mean allowing yourself to truly hate what is evil to the point of seeing change in your community and personal life, rather than merely holding the right doctrine in your mind. Emotion ought to have a place in our faith rather than being something we’re constantly trying to get rid of or suppress.
God created us with both intellect and emotion. Neither is meant to triumph over the other, but actively work together to pursue the heart of Christ.
This article originally appeared here and is used by permission.
