To successfully overcome negative emotions of the past we need to first acknowledge their power over our life. There are simple keys to taking control of your emotions. Only then you can enjoy the present and spend time looking to your future.

The Role of Emotions

Emotions play a central, God-given role in our lives. They are signals and servants meant to guide us, not rule us. They are part of being made in God’s image, Genesis 1:27. However, emotions are indicators, not an infallible guide.

They alert us to what is happening inside us and around us. Emotions function like the dashboard lights in a vehicle. We need to take note of them, but they must not control us.

Without emotions life becomes mechanical, while ungoverned emotions create utter chaos. Emotions are important for they are a major source of energizing action.

Jesus and Emotions

Jesus’ human reaction reveals how emotions are a part of creation. God rejoices over His people with exceeding great joy Zephaniah 3:17.

Jesus wept, John 11:36, felt compassion and experienced sorrow and joy. He was scathing in His condemnation of the religious leaders, Matthew 23:27. He twice showed righteous negativity at the desecration of His Father’s house. Once at the beginning of His ministry, Mark 11:15 and again at the end of His ministry, Matthew 20:45.

Self-Control

Emotions need to be controlled but not suppressed into non-existence. Suppressed emotions resurface stronger each time they are acknowledged. Emotions enrich our life, but when misaligned, they need correction through re-training, not rejection.

We need to acknowledge our emotions honestly, submit them to truth and allow the Holy Spirit to transform them. Emotional pain can be a teacher when rightly interpreted, while the emotion of longing draws us to God. To worship the great I Am That I Am, Exodus 3:14, is to experience a wide range of emotions such as great joy, love, humility, acceptance and unexplainable peace.

When we receive Christ as our Saviour all our sins are forgiven, Isaiah 1:18, but being human we frequently relive the past. Particularly the negative emotions of the past. Yet our past is a major part of who we are in the present. It shapes our identities, influences our decisions and provides context for our experiences.

Subduer

However, negative emotions from the past act as a subduer. They weigh us down so that we miss the joy of the present and hope for the future. They deeply affect all our relationships.

We often take on the attributes of a hamster running on a wheel, as we emotionally run on the spot. Forever using up our energy but getting nowhere. Nothing gets resolved and the negative emotions remain deep in our heart, ready to be revisited at will with ever increasing strength.

This happens most frequently in the small hours of the night, when the body is at its lowest ebb. It is known as ‘Mind after Midnight’ syndrome. At that point it is vital to shift our thoughts onto something else.

Satan’s Playground

Satan’s limited playground is the mind where emotions are the major player. Our emotions require healing. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Take every thought captive, 2 Corinthians 10:5. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you, James 4:7.

You can only hold one thought at a time, even though your sensory system, the senses, processes thousands of bits of information at the same time.  It is important to not only take control of your of emotions, but to shift your focus.  

When it comes to emotions, the heart is the source, the brain is the mediator and the body is the messenger. When we are overloaded with negative emotions, we need to have the heart transformed by the Holy Spirit and turn our mind onto the promises of God. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, Romans 12: 2.

Discern your Emotions

Emotions are real, but not always true, for time distorts them. They report experiences, not reality. Truth must interpret emotion, not emotions interpret truth. The psalmist speaks to his emotions, not from them. Why are you cast down, o my soul, Psalm 42:5.

We need to renew the mind by discerning the root cause of our emotions. Do they result from anger, fear, shame, remorse, or revenge. Negative emotions lose their power when they are named.

Don’t let others rob you of the beauty and joy of each new day, or hold you captive. Consciously choose forgiveness before you feel it. Choose gratitude before joy appears and choose courage before fear subsides.

Rewiring the Mind

To successfully overcome negative emotions from the past, we need to revisit and turn them into positives. A child dies and the mother is left distraught. For years she can mourn the loss of that child, or if she is a true follower of Christ she can turn it around. She can focus on her loss and grief, or she can rejoice that her child is out of all pain and suffering. Forever in the presence of the Lord and one day she will be reunited with the child. Negativity is always a choice.

Rewiring the mind takes courage, time, and a lot of effort. It is not an instant suppression of emotions, but a healing. The major key is to let go of the spirit of offense and forgive all those who have caused that offense. It is not necessarily being reconciled with them, but you letting the offense go. Above all, forgive yourself. Stop looking at your failures, blaming yourself and being internally at war with yourself.

Healing is progressive and forgiving takes time for growth takes place in layers. Be patient with yourself, just as God is patient with us through His undying love and grace, John 3:16. Our hope lies in the knowledge that God knows the end from the beginning, Isaiah 46:10.

Positivity of Emotions

Emotions reveal what we truly value. For as he thinks in his heart so he is, Proverbs 23:7. For where your treasure is, there your heart is also, Matthew 6:12, and you become what you treasure.

Emotions allow us to bond and empathize. We are to rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn, Romans 12:15. Most importantly, emotions allow us to know and express genuine love.

Successfully Overcome Negative Emotions of the Past

When you successfully overcome negative emotions of the past, you are free to enjoy the present and able to take on the positive emotions of the future. You find a new lease of life abundantly, John 10:10.

Turn the negative memory into something positive, and that becomes the end of the story. You become the victor and live victoriously, not as the victim. Negative emotions lose their power and you are set free. You are no longer like the murderer who was made to carry the dead body on his back until it decayed. You will live in freedom as God desires for you in His eternal plan.

Each new year is full of exiting potential if you stop destroying it with negative emotions from the past. Train your emotions to become messengers that transform through awareness, truth, submission to God, practice and time. We walk by faith, not by sight, 2 Corinthians 5:7. Let today be a new day of the rest of your life and enter heaven richly, not as a poor man.

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Dr. Wendy Stenberg-Tendys is a servant of the Lord who enjoys researching Biblical topics and sharing words of encouragement from the Word of God. She asks the hard questions.

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