Think D.E.E.P.

Jesus Shows You How To Control Your Emotions!

This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for He faced all of the same testings we do, yet He did not sin. -Hebrews 4:15 (NLT)

Sometimes I forget that Jesus faced the same challenges that we come up against every day. But, Satan's tricks don't change. He recycles them and dresses them up a bit, but he has been pulling the same old stunts since the fall of man. And Jesus had to deal with them just like we do today.

What better way to learn how to control emotions than to look at how Jesus handled His. A great example of this is right before the crucification. Jesus knew what His destiny held. His date with the cross was growing closer and closer, and His human emotions began to rear their ugly heads.

Let's take a look:

They went to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and Jesus said,
"Sit here while I go and pray." He took Peter, James, and John with Him,
and He became deeply troubled and distressed.
He told them, "My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death.."
-Mark 14:32-34 (NLT)

Can you even image the thoughts and emotions that must have been going through His mind? So, what did Jesus, or savior and example, do when He realized that His emotions were raising up against Him?

He sought the Father in prayer.

He went on a little farther and fell to the ground.
He prayed that, if it were possible,
the awful hour awaiting Him might pass Him by.
"Abba, Father," He cried out, "everything is possible for You.
Please take this cup of suffering away from Me.
Yet I want Your will to be done, not Mine."
- Mark 14:35-36 (NLT)

Jesus' desire was for the torment to be taken away. His emotions were kicking in, and He wanted out of God's plan. But, more than appeasing His emotions, He wanted God's will.

We can learn so much from this passage. Jesus felt the fear, but He did not allow His emotions to stand in the way of God's will and God's way.

Our emotions are not the law. In fact, many times the emotions that we feel are being manipulated by the enemy to stand in the way of God's will for our lives. He knows that, if he can keep us bound up by fear and anger, he can keep us from walking in all that God has in store for our lives.

Whenever Satan tries to plant a thought or emotion in my mind, the first step I must make is to recognize it as a threat! It's a threat to my joy, my peace, and my relationship with God.

Jesus says:

Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy,
and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them.
Nothing will injure you.
- Luke 10:19 (NLT)

You do not have to bow your knee to the tricks that Satan tries to play on your emotions. God Himself tells you to "hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil" (Ephesians 6:16 NLT).

So, when you begin to have emotions that are threatening your joy and peace, or feelings that urge you to stray from God's plan for your life, do what Jesus did. Seek the Lord in prayer, and ask Him for the strength to feel those emotions, and do God's will anyways.

The more you ignore your emotions, the less you will feel their control. Then you will have officially learned how to control emotions instead of allowing them to control you.