Stopping the Emotional Yo-Yo
Adapted from Closer to God Each Day
But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit…is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness, gentleness (meekness, humility), self- control…
I remember the years when I was what I call a “yo-yo Christian.” I was continually up and down emotionally. If my husband, Dave, did what I liked, I was happy. If he didn’t do what I liked, I would get mad. I had not yet learned how to be led by the Holy Spirit and was letting my feelings control my behavior.
More than anything else, believers tell me how they feel. “I feel nobody loves me.” “I feel my spouse doesn’t treat me right.” “I feel that I’ll never be happy.” “I feel . . . I don’t feel . . .” and on and on it goes.
God wants us to realize that our emotions are never going to go away, so we must learn to manage them rather than let them manage us. We can choose to exercise self-control and not let our flesh rule us. Not one of us will, or even should, get everything we want. A spiritually mature believer can be peaceful and happy even when they don’t get what they want. We can choose to tell ourselves that we are not going to be able to say everything we want to say, eat everything we want to eat, and always do what we feel like doing. Choose to let the Holy Spirit help you do what is right no matter how you feel!
Prayer of the Day: Holy Spirit, help me manage my emotions instead of letting them control me. Teach me self-control, guide my choices, and help me do what’s right no matter how I feel, amen.
