Emotions: Can You Trust Them?

I'm re-reading some of Emotions Can You Trust Them.

Thank you Anna! (She knows why.)

From http://www2.focusonthefamily.com/docstudy/bookshelf/a000000391.cfm:

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I have no desire to return our culture to the formality of yesterday, when father was a marble statue and mother couldn't smile because her corset was too tight. But if our grandparents represented one extreme of emotional repression, today's Americans have become temperamental yo-yos at the other. We live and breathe by the vicissitudes of our feelings, and for many, the depression of the "lows" is significantly more prevalent than the elation of the "highs." Reason is now dominated by feelings, rather than the reverse as God intended. "But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." (Galatians 5:22 TLB)
This need for self-control is emphasized by the difficulties and stresses that occur in the lives of virtually every human being on earth. As Mark Twain said, "Life is just one darn thing after another" It's true. At least once every two weeks, someone gets a chest cold or the roof springs a leak or the car throws a rod or an ingrown toenail becomes infected or a business crisis develops. Those minor frustrations are inevitable. In time, of course, more significant problems develop. Loved ones die and catastrophic diseases appear and life slowly grinds to a conclusion. This is the nature of human experience, like it or not. That being true, nothing could be more dangerous than to permit our emotions to rule our destinies. To do so is to be cast adrift in the path of life's storms.2
This statement was intended to convey one primary message: emotions must always be accountable to the faculties of reason and will. That accountability is doubly important for those of us who purport to be Christians. If we are to be defeated during life's spiritual pilgrimage, it is likely that negative emotions will play a dominant role in that discouragement. Satan is devastatingly effective in using the weapons of guilt, rejection, fear, embarrassment, grief, depression, loneliness and misunderstanding. Indeed, human beings are vulnerable creatures who could not withstand these satanic pressures without divine assistance.
Someone wrote, "The mind, body and soul are very close neighbors, and one usually catches the ills of the others." I agree. A person who experiences deep feelings of inferiority, for example, usually believes that God disrespects him too. Consider this note written by a small boy to a famous psychotherapist:

Dear Doctor Gardner,
What is bothering me is that long ago some big person it is a boy about 13 years old. He called me turtle and I knew he said that because of my plastic sergery. And I think god hates me because of my lip. And when I die he'll probably send me to hell.
Love, Chris3

Chris had obviously drawn the conclusion that since he was worthless, not even God could love him. It was illogical extrapolation, yet emotions are not bound by principles of logic. He felt hated by God. That same lie has been whispered in the ears of a million Christians who are overwhelmed by inadequacy and inferiority. Likewise, every river of emotion running deep within the human spirit has the capacity of overflowing its banks and flooding the mind with its rampaging waters. That is why I have written the pages of this book. Our purpose has been to fortify the banks of those rivers with scriptural truth and psychological understanding.
At least eight or ten specific emotions could have been addressed in this context. However, the limitations of time and space required us to focus on four of the most important. They are as follows:

1. Guilt
   
   • When is it valid and invalid, and how can the difference be known?
   • What are the consequences of false guilt which can never be "forgiven"?
   • What is the origin of the conscience, and can it be trusted?
   • Can parents influence the consciences of their children, and if so, how should they be taught?
   • Does the absence of guilt mean we are blameless before God?
2. Romantic Love
   
   • How can the "feeling of love" become a dangerous trap?
   • Why do so many couples become disillusioned shortly after the honeymoon?
   • Does "love at first sight" ever occur?
   • Does God select one particular person for us to marry and then guide us together?
   • How can love be kept alive?
3. Anger
   
   • Is all "anger" sinful?
   • How can strong negative feelings be handled without violating scriptural principles and without repressing them into the unconscious mind?
   • Is it possible for the Christian to live without feelings of irritation or hostility?
   • Does being morally "right" in a particular instance justify an attitude of resentment and antagonism?
   • What is the "flight or fight" mechanism, and how does it relate to biblical understandings?
4. Interpreting Our Impressions
   
   • Can we trust our impressions in interpreting the will of God?
   • Under what circumstances does God speak directly to the heart of man?
   • Does Satan also speak directly on occasion? If so, how can the two voices be distinguished?
   • What role does fatigue and illness play in the interpretation of impressions?
   • How can major decisions be made without leaning too heavily on ephemeral emotions?

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Read more: http://www2.focusonthefamily.com/docstudy/bookshelf/a000000391.cfm.