Emotion Management: Catch the Counterfeits

Feelings express the language of our soul. Counterfeit emotions distract us from our true, renewed selves.

We were created by a loving God, in His glorious image. The first chapters of Genesis tell us the creation story. In order to activate the mind of Christ; our original default, we need to learn what human beings were like before the fall.

Independence: God breathed into Adam & he became a living soul. He had a physical brain; an independent mind, capable of unique thought & reasoning. We know this because after God gave him his breath of life, Adam breathed on his own, with a fully functioning brain stem.

Communication: Instead of robots, our Father wanted sons & daughters to freely choose to love Him. God loved the work of His hands. They had a relationship & spoke to one another.

Responsibility: God told Adam what was expected of Him. He was to be tender & keeper of the garden & was to eat what was planted there, with the exception of one tree. There was both liberation & limitation. Both were part of paradise.

Creativity: Adam, like his Maker, was creative. He was given the responsibility of naming the animals. This took wonder & imagination. Naming something gives it its own place. God encouraged Adam's independent, creative process to establish order in the garden.

Longing: "It is not good for man to be alone". No suitable helper was found for Adam (Gen 2:20) He wanted someone for himself. The desire for connection came from Adam & God agreed this unfulfilled longing should be met. We were made to love God & others.

Fulfillment: "At last!" Adam expresses joy when God brings him Eve. They were both naked, before God & each other & were unashamed. They had purpose; Eve was to help Adam as both were to rule & reign, be fruitful & multiply. All, while enjoying fellowship with their Creator in the incredible, beautiful & nutritional setting of Eden.

Everything changed after the fall. Perception of God, ourselves & others got twisted. The spirit of fear caused reasoning to be tainted & emotions became warped. Satan, The Deceiver, loves counterfeits. He will often present a false version of a legitimate emotion, along with an accusation that feels close to the real thing, but is actually a cleverly concealed lie meant for bondage.

Although believers are redeemed; new creatures, we're still human beings made of flesh. We'll be in an ongoing spiritual war until we're Home. Sadness, for us, is a normal, necessary emotion. Jesus, Himself, grieved & wept. 2 Cor 7:10 says that Godly sorrow leads to repentance & salvation but worldly sorrow leads to spiritual death. Godly grief's counterfeit is despair. It accuses God of not being worthy of hoping for, producing depression & self-pity. We are called to mourn suffering with hope.

Anger's counterfeit is rage. 1 Samuel 11:6 says when the Spirit of the Lord fell on Saul, he was very angry. The gospels tell of Jesus' zealous anger in the temple. There is an important place for righteous indignation. We're supposed to hate oppression, injustice, abuse & all sin - because God hates it. Rage, the fear of powerlessness, expresses itself in wrath & seeks vengeance. It doesn't trust God to be perfectly just & seeks to rectify evil in its own strength & timing. It's fruits are abuse, violence & self-harm.

Godly fear is the beginning of wisdom (Prov 9:10). When we measure God as higher, wider, deeper & greater than anything, we're recalibrating our brains to rightly assess situations. Carnal fear, the counterfeit, does the exact opposite. It takes away power, love & soundness by operating out of the lie against God's complete goodness. It displays itself in anxiety, phobias & other disorders. Shame, rage & blame are direct byproducts of carnal fear.

The joy of the Lord is our strength & we experience it fullest, in His presence. Righteousness, peace & joy are kingdom qualities (Rom 4:17). Even the positive emotion of joy has a counterfeit - mania. Whenever we seek true, lasting joy in anything other than Christ, we have the potential to become manic, seeking extreme indulgence in people, substances & other pleasures. This leads to idolatry - the worship of anything besides God. It seeks to diminish His glory and magnify our desires.

Jesus is the Prince of Peace. This Holy Spirit fruit is a true mark of a Christ follower (Col 3:15). Real peace is brave & intentional. Passivity, its' counterfeit; functions out of fearful denial. It avoids holy confrontation & speaking truth in love. It tries to escape warfare, through silence, numbing & appeasement. There were times Jesus didn't answer His accusers, but it was out of restraint, not fear. He willingly laid down His life, well aware & present of all the suffering that came with it. Peace is a powerful mindset.

Once we allow Holy Spirit to eliminate our counterfeit, extreme/diluted emotions, we can partner with Him to process what we're truly feeling in a healthy, productive way. Godly grief can heal us & we can comfort others. Righteous anger can move us to protect & speak for those without a voice. Godly fear can clear our minds for sound choices. Joy can be experienced anytime, anywhere because we carry its source. Peace can rule our hearts in any situation, because we've practiced responding with Christ-mindedness. There's nothing false about our Jesus - no darkness in Him, at all (1 Jn 1:5).

Holy Spirit, please cleanse us of all counterfeit emotions, that we may feel, think & respond like Christ. May we grow in true love for You, ourselves & each other, in Jesus' Name.

Veronica Jimenez, Sound Mind Awareness, all rights reserved ©2020