listen to your emotions

Yup, that’s right! You read the title correctly (well done, you literate person, you). Listen to your emotions! Now, here’s the caveat: you also have to decode your emotions.

This is where I often fall flat. I ask myself, “Amanda: what should we do here?” And I do the magical, fairy INFP-thing and say, “Well, self, how does Option A make you feel? What about Option B? Hmmmmm I get the butterflies with B and A is an almost solid gut-yes so we’re going with A.”

And I’ve never gone wrong. *insert heavy, post-Christmas-cookie-Santa sarcasm*

Yeah, I wouldn’t recommend this. But, to everything, there’s a balance. Some people don’t listen to their feelings at all and, when they finally break, there’s this mess of anxiety and bitterness and jealousy and it’s like ohhhhhhh that’s why I felt kinda weird all this time.

So, let’s do a check-up. Right here, right now. I’m not the Feelings Police (although I wouldn’t mind that office, thank you very much) but I’m backing up my diagnoses with solid biblical truth. Bookmark this page and come back to it often!

Bitterness

• You may be thinking: it isn’t fair / i really don’t like her / they don’t deserve anything / they are unredeemable / this is so wrong / i will never let this go
• You may be feeling: moody / unstable / irritable
• Read this: Hebrews 12:14-15 / Ephesians 4:31 /
• Stories: Joseph (good example) / Saul (bad example) or Jonah

Resentment

• You may be thinking: it should’ve been me / i worked harder / i’m a good person so i deserved it / why are they more ____________ than me / i failed
• You may be feeling: snappy / unmotivated / jealous
• Read this: James 3:16 / 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 / Proverbs 14:30 / Psalm 31:15
• Stories: Cain and Abel (bad example)

Discomfort

• You may be thinking: why am i here right now / i’m lost / God forgot about me / i can’t do this
• You may be feeling: insecure / depressed / introspective
• Read this: Exodus 4:11 / Proverbs 16:9 / Proverbs:163-4 / James 1:2 / 1 Corinthians 4 / Romans 8 / 1 Peter 1:6 / 2 Timothy 1:8-9 / Isaiah 33:6 / 1 Timothy 4:10
• Stories: Esther (good example) and Moses (Exodus 4) / Jonah (bad example)

Anger

• You may be thinking: they did ______ to me / they don’t deserve anything / it isn’t supposed to be this way / i can fix it on my own / i refuse to talk to them
• You may be feeling: cold / unfeeling / anxious / nervous
• Read this: Ephesians 4:26-31 / James 1:19-20 / Proverbs 15:1 / Colossians 3:8 / James 4:1-2 / Matthew 5:22
• Stories: the Israelites in the wilderness (very very very bad), Saul, Joseph’s brothers

Disappointment

• You may be thinking: if only / it could’ve worked / i should’ve / it wasn’t supposed to be this way / they’re such a good person, they don’t deserve this / i was so close
• You may be feeling: unmotivated / unfeeling / weepy
• Read this: Isaiah 35:3-4 / Psalm 38:3 / 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 / Lamentations 3:19-26
• Stories: David wanting to build the temple (1 Chronicles 28:3) and poor, barren Hannah (1 Samuel 1)

Guilt/shame

• You may be thinking: i can never be forgiven / i’m too bad, unredeemable / i will carry this for the rest of my life / this is my identity / i will never live this down / i can’t live this down / this shouldn’t have happened / i can’t go out in public / everybody knows
• You may be feeling: anxious / depressed / unmotivated / isolated / watched
• Read this: Hebrews 10:22 / 1 John 1:9 / Romans 8:1 / Hebrews 9:14 / Psalm 103:12
• Stories: the woman at the well in John 4 (good example), Paul’s miraculous salvation in Acts 9 (good example)

Anxiety

• You may be thinking: it’s too much / my mind won’t turn off / i just want it all to stop / i can’t get past this / there is no hope for me / i don’t know what i want or need / i don’t want to feel anything anymore / i can’t control this
• You may be feeling: nervous / off-balance / out of control / desperate / isolated
• Read this: Zephaniah 3:17 / Psalm 91:11 / Acts 20:24 / Matt 6:34 / Psalm 34:4 / Psalm 145:17-20 / Psalm 61:2-3 / Deuteronomy 33:12 / Ecclesiastes 7:3, 10, 14, 58
• Stories: Nehemiah (good example) and Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20

Sadness

• You may be thinking: this is awful / i can’t stop crying / i will never feel joy again / the pain is unbearable / my mind is on repeat / i don’t even know what to pray / words don’t work anymore / i don’t know what i’m feeling
• You may be feeling: lost / weepy / isolated / depressed / numb
• Read this: Psalm 56:8-11 / Psalm 55:22 / Psalm 42:5 / Psalm 119:71 / Psalm 51:8b
• Stories: when David loses his child in 2 Samuel 12 (good example)