My emotions got the best of me!  Ever hear someone say that?  What they are usually communicating is that there was a circumstance and rather than thinking rationally, they reacted emotionally.

We see this play out in marriages, when the pressures of finances are causing unusual stress and then someone says, “Well, if you didn’t spend so much” or “If you made more money” and things escalate from there.

Last weekend, we took a look at making emotional decisions and the danger of doing so.  It got me thinking of how God made us emotional beings, but he also made us spiritual at the same time.  Yesterday I was reading the Apostle Paul’s writing in 2 Corinthians 6 about many of the stressful things he had endured.  Then, when it comes to explaining how he got through it, he says it was “in the Holy Spirit.”  In other words, Paul says, “The way I got through all these emotional times in my life was through the help of the Holy Spirit.”

What would happen if you made it a personal goal to yield more and more to the Holy Spirit and less to your emotions?

What might that look like for you?

Try these:

• Pray each morning: Holy Spirit, I yield and surrender to you today”
• Practice being more attentive to what your spirit says over your emotions
• Read passages about the Holy Spirit & our emotions (Gal 5; Eph 4:17-5:21)

The more you practice living in the Spirit, the more your emotions will come under the control of the Spirit.  I think you’ll find your foot spends less time in your mouth, which can lead to athlete’s tongue and other issues! 🙂