EMO: What's Up With All These Emotions
Sermon 1: Guard Your Heart
Proverbs 4:23
July 15, 2007
Pastor Paul W Newell

Can’t live with ‘em; can’t live without ‘em!

Vincent Van Gogh said of emotions: “Let's not forget that the little emotions are the great captains of our lives and we obey them without realizing it.”

Oscar Wilde observed, “The advantage of the emotions is that they lead us astray.”

The reality of life is that most of us live our lives by the “Braille Method”, we simply feel  our way through it.

Today we even have an entire subculture that has taken on this whole “emotional baggage” thing, we call them, rather they call themselves, EMO.

I don’t want to get into any real attempt to describe what “EMO” is other than to say it probably “takes one to know one”. It’s as much a style as it is a lifestyle and like most so-called subcultures, it’s view eventually tend to drift into mainstream. It’s enough to say that “EMO” is about “EMOTING...emotions”.

Today we’re beginning a short series on EMO...not the subculture, but the REAL EMO, our emotions. In truth all of us are EMOs; we all wear our emotions out there for the world to see.

Dale Carnegie was right when he said, “When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion.”

SO WHAT’S WITH ALL THESE EMOTIONS?

Much of the time we all seem to be ruled by our emotions. We live by them. We are obsessed with them. We can’t seem to get away from how we feel!

We are EMOs whether we like it our not...and frankly, we usually don’t like it.

However, before we go too far on this who EMO thing, I want to make one truth very clear and obvious, ready?

EMOTIONS ARE NOT EVIL. EMOTIONS ARE NOT BAD. EMOTIONS ARE JUST THAT, EMOTIONS. FEELINGS ARE JUST FEELINGS; NOTHING MORE.

Would it surprise you to know that God Himself demonstrated emotions? The Bible is filled will illustrations of God’s emotions:
God loves. God hates.

God takes delight in things. He is joyful.
God can be grieved or hurt. (Does that mean we can hurt God’s feelings?)
God is pleased. God showed regret.

And I’m thankful that God demonstrates the emotion of COMPASSION; mercy is both an action and a feeling. I’m thankful for God’s feelings of mercy toward me. There are lots of things I deserve and yet, God in His mercy protects me from those things; He forgives me.

Emotions can’t be evil if God has them.

There is even a verse in the New Testament that tells us to have an emotion that we think is bad: “When you are angry, do not sin,” (Ephesians 4:26)

Anger is not the problem; what’s making you angry and what you do with the anger; that’s the problem; that’s the sin.
Emotions are not evil. Emotions are just emotions.

But what’s with all these emotions? How do we deal with all these emotions? How do we keep from allowing our emotions to rule our lives and behavior? Is it even possible to live a life where emotions aren’t pulling us along?

Proverbs 4:23 gives us the warning: Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.

Guard your heart...

There is the key to living WITH your emotions instead of living BECAUSE of your emotions.

“Guard your heart.”

Sounds easy enough, but how do I guard my heart?

Let me share with you three ways to deal with your emotions and in the process keep them from ruling your life and behaviors.

FIRST, CENTER YOUR LIFE ON FACTS NOT FEELINGS.

DON’T CENTER YOUR LIFE ON YOUR EMO.
Refuse to center your life on your emotions.

Here’s a good point: emotions are not facts...they are emotions. By their very nature, feelings are not factual. It may be a fact that you are feeling something, but emotions, feelings are NOT FACTS.

Go with me today to the local movie theater. Let’s all decide to go watch a movie together. I know, let’s go see a scary movie together. How about the TRANSFORMERS? Benji used to love the Transformers so let’s all go to the movies with Benji.

While we’re all sitting there watching the movie there are going to be times when we feel anxious, afraid, and probably scared.

We’re going to feel all sorts of emotions watching a scary movie all while we’re sitting there in a comfortable seat eating popcorn and drinking sodas.

What we are feeling has no basis in fact...there’s nothing to be afraid of...it’s just a movie on a big screen.
That’s feeling not fact. The fact is there is nothing to be afraid of, yet there we are getting spooked! If we were to base our Sunday afternoon on the feelings we had while watching the TRANSFORMERS we wouldn’t get into our car or walk by any machines at all. We would KNOW FOR SURE that they were going to come alive and get us!

That’s what you get when you center your life on your  EMO. You walked around waiting for the next emotion to rise up and get you!

Years ago someone came up with a great illustration of how this works. They likened it to a train...with an engine, a freight car and a caboose.

Facts should be what drives our actions. We place our faith in facts, not feelings. Far too many people have faith in all the wrong things. Before you place your faith in something, you’d better make sure the facts line up.

The good news about being a Christ Follower is that our faith is based on FACTS. We don’t just have “faith” our feelings about the Bible, we follow the FACTS that prove to us that we can trust what the Bible says as being accurate.  [This would be a great time to listen to “Why I Choose to Believe the Bible”, an audio CD we’ve produced at ChurchForFamily.]

My FAITH follows the facts.

The same thing is true in my family. The FACTS are that Terrie and I have committed our lives to each other. The FACTS are we have committed to love each other. Those are the FACTS.

But what happens if I get up one morning and I’m just in a mad mood. My feelings are telling me that I don’t love Terrie. My feelings might even want to pull me toward someone or something else. My feelings tell me that I should be more concerned about my own satisfaction and well-being than Terrie’s. Those are my FEELINGS. Those aren’t facts, those are feelings.

What would happen if I decided to FOLLOW my FEELINGS? What would happen if I put my FAITH and my ACTIONS BEHIND my FEELINGS? I tell you what would happen; I would ruin my marriage. I would ruin everything that I have built over twenty-six years with my family. Just one decision to follow my feelings instead of the FACTS and I could lose it all.

[Video Clip: Fact, Faith, Emotions available at SermonSpice.com]

Don’t center your life on your EMO. Center your life on solid FACTS.

When I start feeling the pull of my emotions and feelings I have to do what King David (Old Testament, Psalms) declared:

“He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken. ... He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.” Psalms 62:6 - 7   

One of the big obstacles that many of us fact when it comes to the facts is that we don’t know the facts. We’ve either bought into a lie or just haven’t learned the facts.

Make sure you know from where you are getting your facts!

You may need to gain new facts!

You also need to continually rehearse the facts in your mind.

How do you deal with your emotions and in the process keep them from ruling your life and behaviors?

SECOND, LEARN HOW TO VENT YOUR EMO.

Psalm 62:8 tells us, “...trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.

Pour out your heart to God.

One of our biggest mistakes in life is that we talk too much. I’m not talking about talking to other people; I’m talking about talking to ourselves. We go through life talking to ourselves – mostly about how we feel or see things. In the process of talking to ourselves we get in a very “me-centered, EMO” state. EMO is all about ME.

EMO is MEEEEE-MO.

We get ourselves into a mess because we talk to ourselves instead of talking to God. Then when we are through talking to ourselves we talk to OTHERS instead of God.

Here’s a great rule that will protect you from a lot of bad stuff: GOD FIRST: TALK TO GOD FIRST.

When you find yourself emoting and talking to yourself...just but God in front of it all. Talk to God. The Bible calls it praying without ceasing.

“Pray without ceasing” (KJV) “Never stop praying.” (NLT) 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Vent your emotions to God. Talk your emotions through with God.

I do this all the time and it always helps.

There are a lot of mornings that I wake up feeling afraid and worried. There are a lot of things I have to face during the day and a lot of things to worry about. It’s easy for me to get overwhelmed before I’m even fully away. I wake up worried! But that’s when I shift my thinking. I start talking to God about every one of those worries. I confess to Him that I am afraid, but that my fear is just a feeling and I know that He will be with me and help me through each of the things I will fact throughout the day. And before my feet even hit the floor I’ve vented my emotions to God; I’ve poured out my heart to Him. Then it’s just a matter of continuing to do that throughout the day (trust him at all times) when the worries start coming back into my mind and heart.

How do you deal with your emotions and in the process keep them from ruling your life and behaviors?

FIRST, CENTER YOUR LIFE ON FACTS, NOT FEELINGS

SECOND, LEARN HOW TO VENT YOUR EMO.

THIRD, PREPARE FOR THE WORST.

Yeah, that sounds a little strange doesn’t it? I mean what better way to FUEL THE FEELINGS that to start thinking about the worst possible scenario in any given situation.

That is not what I’m talking about here. Listen to what it says in the Old Testament Book of Job...

“If only you would prepare your heart and lift up your hands to him in prayer! Get rid of your sins, and leave all iniquity behind you. Then your face will brighten with innocence. You will be strong and free of fear. You will forget your misery; it will be like water flowing away. Your life will be brighter than the noonday. Even darkness will be as bright as morning. Having hope will give you courage. You will be protected and will rest in safety. You will lie down unafraid, and many will look to you for help.”  Job 11:13 - 19 (NLT)

Let’s go back to the very first verse we looked at this morning:

Proverbs 4:23 gives us the warning: Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.

Job tells us this same thing: “If only you would prepare your heart...”

The reality in this life is a lot of our emotions: fear, anxiety, insecurity (to name a few) are the result of not preparing our hearts; not guarding our hearts.

You can’t expect to escape the slavery of emotions if you continue to feed them.

There is a lot to be said about facing your EMOs and dealing with them. But you deal with your emotions by facing the facts FIRST.

What emotions are gripping your heart right now? What emotions do you obsess over the most?

What does God have to say about those emotions?

It’s time to take the time to face your feelings and deal with the worst instead of either avoiding or denying them.

One last suggestion:

FOURTH, ENJOY THE BEST!

John 8:32 reminds us: “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Remember John 11:15 “15Then your face will brighten with innocence. You will be strong and free of fear.”

We don’t have to be a slave to EMO.  Over the next four weeks we’re going to take a closer look at four powerful emotions that tend to pull us down the wrong tracks: GUILT, LONELINESS, BOREDOM & ANGER. But for now, let’s determine to follow God’s facts and not our feelings.

Prayer:

To download the audio version of this message click here.