This chapter couldn't have come at a better time for me. My picture would probably be listed in the dictionary under the word emotion. I am one emotional girl, and come from a very long line of emotional women. In fact, I am raising an emotional drama queen right now. Just last weekend, I had a heart to heart with my best friend about my emotions getting out of control. Holly Gerth, the author of our book, had a lot of wisdom for me this week, just when I needed it most.
This chapter is about our emotions. Holly says, "All of our emotions are gifts from God to help us process everything we experience. Emotions are also a big part of what makes you amazing. Our emotions display our hearts-our beautiful, broken, blessed, glorious hearts."
On page 57, Holly gives an exercise to determine wheter our "head" or "hearts" are the dominant force when it comes to how we approach to our emotions. In all but one area, I fell into the "heart" catergory. She explains that if you are dominated by your heart, "you're more vulnerable to being controlled by emotions. You may jump to conclusions or make decisions without getting the facts you need." Um yeah, that would be me. When my emotions are in line with God, I am good. I am serving him, I am actively seeking to be a light to others. But girls, when they aren't in line with Him, I am a wreck. I am one of those girls who reacts without thinking sometimes, and this leads to a lot of guilt.
She helps us to see how God wants us to respond to our emotions. She says, "at the end of the day, we've got to listen and follow God's Spirit more than our own hearts. He's the ultimate reality check. We also need sisters of fiath who will speak truth to us when we can't see or simply don't have the strength to believe it in that moment."
I underlined or highlighted practically this whole chapter, so I won't go into my favorite quotes because this post would be entirely too long. Just read it, you won't be sorry.
Below are a few things that go with this chapter:
Video from incourage.me with Holly Gerth on Chapter 4
I found this quote from Lysa Tekeurst that I loved. This is from her book, Unglued.
Song: "All About Your Heart" by Mindy Gledhill
Discussion Questions:
1. Are you dominated more by your head or heart?
2. Which description most fits your family growing up- stuffers, screamers or surfers? What parts of your emotional history still fit you well and which ones have you outgrown?
3. What is one specific way you can guard your heart this week?
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This section was definitely a hard one for me. I'm dominated more by my head, but my emotions can still lead me at times, usually when I don't want them to. So I'm trying to learn to be more in tune with my heart and the emotions God has gifted me with.
ReplyDeleteI think in my family we were both stuffers and screamers. My brother was prone to temper tantrums and emotional outburst, so I tried to be the "good girl", the peacemaker. Now as an adult, especially after some events of the last several months, I'm experiencing some emotions that are foreign to me and trying to learn how to feel them and express them, instead of stuffing them until I explode.
I think one way to guard my heart is to fill my mind with God's truth. (Yep, you can tell I'm dominated by my head...I just said "think" and "mind" in the same sentence as heart. :)
These posts are great Andrea, and the discussion questions are definitely making me think. Keep it up! (And maybe someone else will jump in and comment too :)
I agree with you Catherine. I think His truth is so important, especially when it comes to emotions. I actually keep scripture in as many places as I can: work, home, car. Thank you for being so real in your comments. It helps me to feel like other people can relate to what I am feeling. Thanks!
DeleteI'm definitely dominated more by my head. I get uncomfortable with too much emotion and don't always know how to respond. I think my friends would say that I'm always the level headed one or I don't let anything get to me. This is totally untrue but I think I tend to hide any negative emotions. I was struck by the part in the book where she talked about if you block the negative emotions you will end up blocking the positive ones too and always be in neutral. I really identified with that because I truly don't remember the last time I was over joyed or extremely excited about anything. I'm generally in a perpetual state of neutral.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing Elisabeth. My friend Nikki and I were just talking about the exact part of the book you mentioned in your comment. It is nice to come across people that are level headed. You help us emotional ones to keep our feet on the ground. Keep up the comments. I love them!
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