WHY DID GOD GIVE US EMOTIONS IF WE ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO USE THEM?

 We hear it all the time from evangelicals - "Don't go by your feelings, go by the word of God."  But is this an accurate understanding of what the Bible teaches? - ed.

In a belief system that views intellectual assent as equivalent to true faith, we should not be surprised at this over-emphasis on reasoning over feelings.  Yet we find in the scriptures a large number of words related to how someone feels.

In the King James Bible, the words the translators chose to translate as "joy" is found 165 times.  Of course, as we would expect in any language, different synonyms are used to describe the same idea.

In evangelical circles and in Reformed circles there is an intellectual movement that encourages its adherents to not go by what they "feel" but what they "know." They denigrate feelings as if they were second-class citizens among the gifts God has given humans. Among modern evangelical preachers, this is emphasized especially in the matters of the Christian life.  If Christians feel depressed or sad, they are reminded that they are children of the King; reminded that they are wondrously made.  Basically, they are told to disregard their feelings.

In Reformed circles, the message is the same but with a different variant.  Here, they are taught to give their mental assent to various propositional statements originating from their confessions.  After all, they are confessional churches.  This turns their faith into a predominantly intellectual assent that any inclined unbeliever could make.  Of course, in Reformed circles, they would deny that faith is a mere mental assent, but in practice, they intellectualize belief in such a manner, that they belie their real understanding of faith.

EMOTIONS ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO PEOPLE IN GENERAL

God did not design us in vain.  Emotions were given to us to add tremendous richness to our lives and perceptions.  As the old TV show Star Trek had three basic personalities, Spock, strictly intellectual, McCoy totally emotional and Kirk a combination of the two.  The two characters (McCoy & Spock) were deficient in command, it took Kirk to be able to balance judgments based on BOTH emotions and logic.

EMOTIONS ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO CHRISTIANS

The word Joy appears 165 times in the KJV.  The word translated happy appears 28 times.  The word sad appears 11 times.  The word afraid appears 193 times. The word fear appears 400 times.  If we look at the phrase "fear not" it appears 63 times.  The word rejoice appears 193 times.  Of course, there are a group of varied phrases that indicate either happiness or sadness.  Apparently, the Bible is full of emotions.  Even Jesus has emotions; he "feels" our infirmities (Heb. 4.14).  Are we to chastise David for feeling totally abandoned by God?  Should he have been told that he should not go by his feelings (that are produced by God)?  

But in both these camps there is something missing, something very VITAL to a believer in Jesus - WHERE IS THE SCHOOL OF CHRIST?  Where are the personal regular encounters with Christ inside one's heart?  "If so, be that you have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus" (Eph. 4.21).  We do not regard the change of the preposition "by" to "about" in many translations as good Greek.  Jesus is the only one who can teach a believer the truth in his school.  Only those who are his from eternity back can attend this school and learn the SPIRITUAL lessons from its classrooms which Jesus inhabits.  In that school, the believer learns how to feel pain, yet trust in God, how to suffer yet trust in God, and how to be scorned and spit upon yet trust in God.  This is what is called "growing in grace" in the Bible, where the believer learns the necessity of his dependence for EVERYTHING on Jesus.  This is not to be confused with the Arminian doctrine of "progressive sanctification"!  We are not partially sanctified in Christ, we are either sanctified or not sanctified!  Ours, brethren, is a mystical religion; alive and full of emotions, both good and bad!

Brethren, my wish for all of us, is that we may be matriculated in that school of Christ, be tested, and be prepared for our glorious graduation in heaven!

Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.

O Lord God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people?

Thou feedest them with the bread of tears; and givest them tears to drink in great measure.

Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbors: and our enemies laugh among themselves.

Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.

Psalm 80.3-7