Emotion (noun) - A natural instinctive state of mind deriving from one's circumstances, mood, or relationships with others.
I always thought I was pretty stable when it came to emotions. In fact, I've been kind of proud of the fact that I wasn't one of those roller coaster kind of person when it comes to controlling my emotions. And then, I hit my mid 30's. And I have days that I want to run over somebody or just sit home and watch sappy, tear-jerker movies.
For work, I periodically have to take training courses that the company offers online. There's a wide selection covering different topics. I had heard a manager friend talking about "Emotional Intelligence" and decided I would take an easy one. I knew I had that one "in the bag." Three days and several retakes later (around 14), I finally passed the quiz with an 86! Apparently, I'm not as emotionally intelligent as I thought.
Today, one of my co-workers came in and was visibly and audibly upset about something a supervisor had asked her to do. Her frustration was rooted in poor leadership, but was being aimed at her co-workers who had not been asked to share in the responsibility. I tried to just listen, to provide her with a sounding board and when she was a little calmer, I tried to instruct where I could. It was painful for all who were nearby and I don't think she accomplished what she wanted with her tirade. Instead of convincing coworkers that she needed help, she actually made us dread having to work with her at all. How often do we let our emotions run things? We let a state of mind control our environment, our thoughts, and the way we handle others!
Fear is one of those emotions that we often allow to control us. It's come up in many conversations lately in our ministry. We've been trying to get a handle on exactly what was meant in 2 Timothy 1:7.
I always thought I was pretty stable when it came to emotions. In fact, I've been kind of proud of the fact that I wasn't one of those roller coaster kind of person when it comes to controlling my emotions. And then, I hit my mid 30's. And I have days that I want to run over somebody or just sit home and watch sappy, tear-jerker movies.
For work, I periodically have to take training courses that the company offers online. There's a wide selection covering different topics. I had heard a manager friend talking about "Emotional Intelligence" and decided I would take an easy one. I knew I had that one "in the bag." Three days and several retakes later (around 14), I finally passed the quiz with an 86! Apparently, I'm not as emotionally intelligent as I thought.
Today, one of my co-workers came in and was visibly and audibly upset about something a supervisor had asked her to do. Her frustration was rooted in poor leadership, but was being aimed at her co-workers who had not been asked to share in the responsibility. I tried to just listen, to provide her with a sounding board and when she was a little calmer, I tried to instruct where I could. It was painful for all who were nearby and I don't think she accomplished what she wanted with her tirade. Instead of convincing coworkers that she needed help, she actually made us dread having to work with her at all. How often do we let our emotions run things? We let a state of mind control our environment, our thoughts, and the way we handle others!
Fear is one of those emotions that we often allow to control us. It's come up in many conversations lately in our ministry. We've been trying to get a handle on exactly what was meant in 2 Timothy 1:7.
For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.(NLT)
There is a spirit of fear that we can battle spiritually, but it's also an emotion. One that we can control - through power, love and self-discipline. Somebody needs to tell the Google dictionary to adjust their definition. When your natural instinct is to worry or fear, then we have to exercise the self-discipline to pick up the sword and speak the truth in every situation, every emotion or every relationship. It's not easy, but it's the emotionally "intelligent" thing to do. . .
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