Highs and Lows

I know I'm not the only one that experiences the emotional roller coaster of life. In fact I know that there are others that face higher highs and lower lows than I will ever face. And when I think about this it makes everything that I am going through seem trite in comparison. Still I am up against the lowered energy in the emotional depressing times and the hyper-activity that accompanies the moments of emotional joy.

What I am learning is that it isn't a bad thing to be emotional but it is definitely trouble when I become subject to my emotions. I can't let them control how I respond in my relationships with my spouse, friends, or acquaintances, or allow them to distort my view of Christ and what he has accomplished in the lives of Christ-followers like myself. The identity that I have in Christ is more important and more substantial than any emotion I could ever experience here on earth, whether it's thrilling joy, fierce anger, or extreme depression--Christ still holds my true identity as a Christ-follower.

Romans 8:15-17 reminds us that Christ-followers have been given a Spirit of sonship--that we are God's children. God's children are led by the Holy Spirit not their emotions. As I keep reminding myself of this I hope that someday it will get through my thick head and I'll stop falling prey to being led around by the frailty of my emotional state.

This isn't the end of me being emotional at times (sorry Jolene) but I hope to not be controlled by them. Instead to filter my emotions through the lens that God the Father sees me through--as a son controlled by His Spirit. Not expressing the fruit of unbridled emotions, but the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.