“I feel like my emotions control me. I am a slave to them. What do I do?”

Emotions are part of our nature. God created us to have emotions. The Bible talks of our emotions. Two of the most common words it uses to talk of emotions are “heart” and “reins.” In the King James Version, Psalm 73:21 reads, “Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins.” The Complete Jewish Bible translates the last part of the same passage in a way that demonstrates that the word “reins” refers to our emotions. I “felt stung by pained emotions.”

The word “heart” generally refers to our mind when it is used in the Bible. Sometimes this refers to our intellect. “Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live.” Sometimes it refers to our mind as the part of our body that experiences emotions. “Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop” “A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken” (Proverbs 4:4; 12:25; 15:13).

Some have thought that we should repress our emotions. This is wrong. A well-known doctor treated patients with leprosy, a disease that causes nerve damage that results in a loss of feeling in the physical body. He observed that, without pain, there is no way to protect the body. This is true of emotions and the mind. Without emotional pain we do not know how to protect ourselves psychologically.

The Bible teaches that healthy emotions are valuable and useful. But the Bible does not tolerate making idols out of emotions. Here it reproves our generation. Thousands around us live by the idea that “If it feels good, do it.” Pleasure and a thirst for pleasure is the god they worship. But that god does not make them happy. Nor does it provide for them contentment or guidance through hardship.

We do well to learn from eating. God created food to taste wonderful. He provided vivid color and different consistency. But food is primarily a means of providing nutrition to our bodies. If we eat only for the pleasure of taste, we would never need to swallow. The pleasure of taste is what makes the task of eating enjoyable. Taste and texture and color in food are the packaging for nutrition. They are not the purpose of eating, they are its servants.

This is true of all healthy pleasure. It is what makes life rich, not what makes life worth living. Emotions are messengers to teach us about ourselves. They give us messages that we need to make wise decisions about life. Those that have no emotion lose the ability to appreciate joy, kindness, and virtue. They lose the ability to have empathy.

Here is a brief compilation of inspired thoughts on emotions and how to control them.

“The religion of Christ brings the emotions under the control of reason.”1

“God’s Spirit moves upon the mind and controls the emotions of the soul. The rational thought and the right feelings and the faultless life come from the same source and are quiet and strong and sensible in their operation. To possess and enjoy the Spirit of God, there must be a conformity to the life, the actions to the will, of God; the heart must be prepared; the soul temple cleansed from defilement of self and sin. Then the power of grace comes in.”2

“God’s children are not to be subject to feelings and emotions. When they fluctuate between hope and fear, the heart of Christ is hurt; for He has given them unmistakable evidence of His love.”3

“Feelings are often deceiving, emotions are no sure safeguard; for they are variable and subject to external circumstances. Many are deluded by relying on sensational impressions.”4

“The Word must enlighten the mind as to the true character of the emotions, for they are often changeable and very unreliable. As long as feeling in no way takes the lines of control, and interferes with the healthful life of the human agent in religious experience, there is no danger. The emotions are not always misleading; but as soon as they take control of the soul, body, and spirit, they must be sensibly considered and restrained. Feelings are no guide; they are ever to be kept under the control of a firm, intelligent principle, in conformity to the divine will; the balance of the mind needs to be preserved.”5

“The power of the truth . . . brings the appetites, the passions, and the emotions under the control of reason and conscience, and disciplines the thoughts to flow in a healthful channel. And then the tongue will not be left to dishonor God by expressions of sinful repining.”6

“How can I master my own actions and control my inward emotions? Many who profess not the love of God do control their spirit to a considerable extent without the aid of the special grace of God. They cultivate self-control. This is indeed a rebuke to those who know that from God they may obtain strength and grace and yet do not exhibit the graces of the Spirit.”7

“You cannot control your impulses, your emotions, as you may desire, but you can control the will, and you can make an entire change in your life. By yielding up your will to Christ, your life will be hid with Christ in God, and allied to the power which is above all principalities and powers. You will have strength from God that will hold you fast to His strength; and a new light, even the light of living faith, will be possible to you. But your will must cooperate with God’s will, not with the will of associates through whom Satan is constantly working to ensnare and destroy you.

“Will you not, without delay, place yourself in right relation to God? Will you not say, ‘I will give my will to Jesus, and I will do it now,’ and from this moment be wholly on the Lord’s side? Disregard custom, and the strong clamoring of appetite and passion. Give Satan no chance to say, ‘You are a wretched hypocrite.’ Close the door, so that Satan will not thus accuse and dishearten you. Say, ‘I will believe, I do believe that God is my helper,’ and you will find that you are triumphant in God. By steadfastly keeping the will on the Lord’s side, every emotion will be brought into captivity to the will of Jesus. You will then find your feet on solid rock. It will take, at times, every particle of will-power that you possess, but it is God that is working for you, and you will come forth from the molding process a vessel unto honor.”8

“Let no one say, I cannot remedy my defects of character. If you come to this decision, you will certainly fail of obtaining everlasting life. The impossibility lies in your own will. If you will not, then you cannot overcome. The real difficulty arises from the corruption of an unsanctified heart and an unwillingness to submit to the control of God.”9

“Heaven is worth everything to us. We must not run any risk in this matter. We must take no venture here. We must know that our steps are ordered by the Lord. May God help us in the great work of overcoming. He has crowns for those that overcome. He has white robes for the righteous. He has an eternal world of glory for those who seek for glory, honor, and immortality. Every one who enters the city of God will enter it as a conqueror. He will not enter it as a condemned criminal, but as a son of God. And the welcome given to everyone who enters there will be, ‘Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world’ (Matthew 25:34).”10