Week 7, Day 2

There is a healthy place for emotions in our lives. But they try to battle for control, don’t they? Emotions should be in the car, but do not let them drive the car. Don’t let emotions drive you, but you must drive them. The goal is that you are at the steering wheel, and they are in the passenger’s seat with the seat belt securely fastened.

Emotional maturity is not accomplished by putting emotions aside, pretending they have no place. When we attempt to put sadness in a circle, we often get stuck. Sadness can lead to healthy things. Sadness is a part of compassion, understanding, mercy, humility, relationships, striving, and becoming. God experienced a sense of sadness over the sin in the world. In one of the clips, Joy had a revelation – you really can’t get through something by just skipping over the emotion of sadness. Sometimes you must sit down and deal with reality.

Read John 11

Jesus showed up at the house of a friend who had just experienced loss, and he expressed empathy. Jesus experienced sadness with the loss of his friend Lazarus, but he also experienced joy when he raised him from the dead. In this fallen world, joy and sadness both have a place in healthy emotional development.

-Is it difficult for you to discuss emotions? Is it difficult for you to express sadness in a healthy manner? Explain your answer and write about a time when you experienced deep sadness.