Emotional maturity

In Spiritual Formation class today, Dr. Sunny suggested that our emotions are symptoms.

After giving it a thought, I found it quite true. I suppose it is natural for us to be emotional beings, because we were made in the image of God. Throughout the Bible, we see that God feels deeply Himself. Love, anguish, holy anger, sorrow, etc. These emotions were the motivators of God's passion and compassion. Of course, during the Fall of man, the negative (as well as destructive) emotions we experience are part of sin's consequences from which Jesus was sent to redeem and heal. The wages of sin is death; such negative emotions do bring death in the long run, if they are given free rein to govern our lives and decisions.

A major part of our sanctification and transformation as Christians involves the "renewing of the mind" that the Apostle Paul was inspired to write in Romans 12:2. We are in a sense, captives to our minds. Battles are won or lost first in our minds. Proverbs 23:7 says, "As a man thinketh, so is he." Thinking is a mental preoccupation that involves weighing the input, reasoning, remembering, imagination, reflection, meditation, etc. The way we think is influenced by many factors - eg. our past experiences (especially of pain/hurt), personality, culture, worldview, strongholds, family history, etc. From our thoughts, we draw certain conclusions that make us feel and subsequently act. Therefore, I strongly agree that our emotions are symptoms indeed. Negative/destructive emotions are symptoms of a conflicted mind that confuses itself between God's truth and Satan's lies. Why do we have to renew our minds? So that we may "...prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." (Rom 12:2) When we choose to believe in God's truth (by His grace and our yielding to His Holy Spirit by faith) and let it govern our lives, we will feel differently.

Spiritual formation Year 3 aims to prepare graduants to be released into their respective mission fields, depending on individual calling. Dr. Sunny (who also happens to be our academic dean) was asking each and everyone of us what we wanted him to include as part of the SF3 syllabus. As for me, I answered that one of my goals in my remaining time here in MBTS is to cultivate a disciplined mind in Christ - and therefore emotional maturity. Recently, I've become aware that my emotional health ain't too good to the extent that it sometimes cripples me within my ministry and hinder my excelling in even the things that I am good at. There is such a need to buck up. It won't be an overnight thing - but a process and a journey. May it be a liberating one, I pray.