Week 4 Day 4: A Biblical Response

Although emotions are spontaneous, the actions they produce do not have to be. The Bible teaches that you are responsible for how you choose to let your emotions cause you to behave. You cannot escape responsibility by blaming your behavior on a negative feeling or on the person or circumstance stimulating that feeling.

You may believe that someone wronged you or that your family background programmed you or predisposed you to act a certain way. You may think: ‘I can’t help that I act this way. He made me angry when he criticized me’. But can someone really make you angry and make your respond improperly? Regardless of what happens before the event, the choice of how to respond is yours. You can sin in that response, or you can choose to honor Christ. One sin does not justify another.

Read Luke 6:27-28, Philippians 4:6-7, Philippians 4:4, Ephesians 4:25-26, 31-32, 1 Peter 2:1, and 1 Corinthians 13:4.

These scriptures give a biblical response for hate – to do good to those who hate you; anxiety – that you are to pray to God and not be anxious; joy – that you are to acknowledge the source of goodness; anger – that you are to avoid sinning from anger and to settle matters quickly; and envy – that you are to lay envy aside and to love others.

Daily Thoughts: What did you get from today’s study?

Think about how Christ managed his emotions on the cross. He could have raged, threatened, blamed, or scolded. He could have called on angels to protect Him. Instead, He sought God’s will in His emotional responses, even to the end. Although He expressed sorrow, concern for His mother, and His human physical need, He surrendered everything to God’s will, even when that meant suffering and dying on the cross.