Why Emotions Make Poor Gods

The little girl’s outburst in the store was as loud as it was revealing. “You can’t tell me how to feel!” she screamed, her tiny voice booming with raw, unfiltered emotion. Her mother’s reply was sharp and sobering: “I’m not telling you how to feel. I’m telling you how to behave.”

In that moment, a deeper truth surfaced one that speaks volumes about the age we live in. While most people would agree that behavior must be managed, we’ve come to believe that emotions are sacred and untouchable. We act as though feelings happen to us, involuntarily, and must be obeyed. But is that actually true? More importantly, is that biblical?

The Untouchable Idol of Emotion

Today’s culture encourages full expression of feelings. We live in what some have called an "emoji world," where emotional self-expression is considered synonymous with authenticity. If you feel it, say it. If you’re angry, shout. If you’re sad, withdraw. To repress emotion is to repress yourself so we’re told.

This emotional philosophy runs so deep that even among believers, it's common to hear suggestions like “yell at God if you’re upset” or “just be real with your feelings.” While honesty before God is good, rawness without reverence has become the new virtue, and few seem to question where this path leads.

But Scripture tells a different story. Emotions are not meant to be our masters. They are meant to be shaped, governed, and even commanded by God.

Can Emotions Be Trained?

Absolutely and they must be. Ancient thinkers like Plato and Augustine knew that emotions were not fixed destinies but trainable responses. C.S. Lewis, in The Abolition of Man, put it this way: “The heart never takes the place of the head: but it can, and should, obey it.”

In the biblical worldview, emotions are not exempt from correction. They are meant to be in sync with God’s truth. This idea is woven throughout the Scriptures:

• “Rejoice in the Lord always” (Philippians 4:4)

• “Do not be anxious about anything” (Philippians 4:6)

• “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good” (Romans 12:9)

• “Be angry and do not sin” (Ephesians 4:26)

These aren’t suggestions for emotional types they’re commands for all of God’s people. The implication? God expects us to govern our feelings just as much as our actions.

Four Gifts God Gives to Train Our Emotions

So how do we do this? How do we bring our feelings under godly rule? Scripture shows us four key ways:

1. His Son

Jesus is not just our example He is our substitute. He lived the perfect emotional life we could not. When we see His sorrow in Gethsemane or His compassion for the crowds, we’re witnessing emotion under divine direction. And at the cross, we see the most emotionally crushing cry in all of history: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)

In Jesus, we are forgiven for our emotional failures, and we are shown what redeemed emotions look like.

2. His Spirit

Through the Holy Spirit, God doesn’t just command new feelings He gives them. Galatians 5:22–23 lists the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are not mere behaviors. They are emotional realities shaped by divine influence.

With the Spirit’s help, we can begin to love what God loves and hate what God hates.

3. His People

Transformation doesn’t happen in isolation. The Christian life is a community project. Older believers train the younger. We are called to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), encouraging one another, correcting one another, and walking through life together.

In a world where emotional volatility is normalized, the church becomes a place where emotional maturity is nurtured.

4. His Word

God’s Word reveals ultimate reality. It teaches us what is true and gives us a lens to view our emotions correctly. As Colossians 3:15–16 says, the peace of Christ rules in our hearts when His Word dwells richly in us.

In Philippians 4:4–7, Paul gives a stunning sequence of emotional commands:

• Rejoice always.

• Be anxious for nothing.

• Let your reasonableness be known.

• Pray with thanksgiving.

Why? Because “The Lord is at hand.” That’s the grounding reality. God's nearness is the reason we can live free from fear and anxiety. Our emotional stability flows not from what we feel but from who God is and where He is near.

You Are Not Your Emotions

The world says your feelings define you. Scripture says you are not your emotions. You are a child of God. Emotions may be part of your life, but they are not the Lord of it.

Isaiah 26:3 promises, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” Peace comes not from listening to ourselves, but from looking to God.

Feelings are powerful. They color our days and shape our interactions. But like fire, they must be contained. They make terrible gods. When left unchecked, they can lead us into sin, rob us of peace, and make us threats to ourselves and others.

But when surrendered to God, emotions can become tools for holiness, teaching us joy, compassion, and reverent fear. They help us laugh in freedom, cry in hope, and love with wisdom.

In an emotionally ungoverned age, Christians have a rare opportunity: to model what it looks like to feel deeply and live wisely. To dethrone emotion as god and let God reign over every corner of our hearts even the tear-streaked, trembling, rejoicing parts.

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