Carolyn Mahaney - True Feelings: Gods Gracious and Glorious Purpose for Our Emotions

I love a book that is both practical and convicting, and what better topic than a biblical approach to our emotions! With careful writing, these wise women walk us through the process of identifying our feelings, and then they show us how to profit from and guide them in a God-glorifying way.

Nancy Wilson, pastors wife; homemaker; grandmother of seventeen; author, Learning Contentment

This gifted mother-and-daughter team do it again! With striking clarity, insightful illustrations, and the wisdom that comes from walking with God, Carolyn and Nicole put to rest the ever-ready excuse, I just cant help how I feel. They teach us from Scripture why God gave us emotions and how to interpret what those emotions reveal about our actual beliefs and values. For anyone who has ever felt confused, guilty, or exhausted by runaway emotions, True Feelings is a must read.

Jani Ortlund, speaker, Renewal Ministries; author, Fearlessly Feminine and His Loving Law, Our Lasting Legacy

The best books are well-written, biblically sound, have universal appeal, and offer both penetrating insight and practical help. The mother/ daughter writing team of Carolyn Mahaney and Nicole Whitacre has given us such a book. Women are their primary audience, but nearly all the book is applicable to men. Theyll surprise you by showing how often the Bible speaks to the subject of emotions and thereby help you see fresh insights into familiar texts. Carolyn and Nicole are honest about the reality of negative feelings and avoid the simplistic, shallow, turn lemons into lemonade answers. Emotions are a God-created part of each of us. They tell us what we value and move us to action. But like every other part of us they are affected by sin, yet can be sanctified for our joy and Gods glory. As every Christian can identify with this struggle, so every Christian can benefit from this book.

Donald S. and Caffy Whitney, professor of biblical spirituality and associate dean, School of Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; author, Family Worship ; and his wife, Caffy

True Feelings is an excellent book about the goodness and grace of God in the middle of our many emotions. Carolyn and Nicole consistently point us to God's Word, and practical wisdom flows from every page. Read this book, and be reminded that the Lord alone is our help and hope, regardless of our circumstances.

David and Heather Platt, president, International Mission Board; author, Radical ; and his wife, Heather

What do we do with our feelings? Jesus demands that every facet of our life be brought into submission to his lordship, even our emotions. Yet few Christians think about just how significant our emotions are in our daily lives. True Feelings is a needed resource that is biblically sound and theologically faithful. Carolyn Mahaney and Nicole Whitacre are sure guides for thinking biblically about our emotions as gifts of God needing redemption by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

R. Albert Mohler Jr. and Mary Mohler, president, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; and his wife, Mary, director, Seminary Wives Institute, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Through their careful research and engaging style, Carolyn and Nicole will leave you glad that God has given us emotions, less afraid of the more painful ones, more able to listen to what emotions are saying, and expectant that they can be refined and sanctified.

Ed Welch, counselor; faculty member, The Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation; author, Shame Interrupted and Side by Side

In J. R. R. Tolkiens Lord of the Rings trilogy, the young hobbit Pippin observes a depth and range of emotions in the face of the ancient wizard Gandalf: Pippin glanced in some wonder at the face now close beside his own.... He saw at first only lines of care and sorrow; though as he looked more intently he perceived that under all there was a great joy: a fountain of mirth enough to set a kingdom laughing, were it to gush forth.

What Pippin saw in Gandalf also describes the essential Christian demeanor: our emotions should tell, in deep and profound ways, of both the sadness of this fallen world and the joy of the gospel. The mature emotional Christian is not happy all the time; she is not an annoyingly upbeat, always turning lemons into lemonade kind of person. The emotional character we are striving for is multifaceted, reflecting a full range of godly emotions: from sincere grief over sin to earnest hope for heaven, from righteous anger at injustice to genuine affection for our fellow man. We are to be, as Tolkien said, sad, but not unhappy, 6:10). How do we get like this? What will it take to attain an emotional demeanor that is somber about life in this fallen world, but saturated with an overriding joy? In this final chapter, we want to highlight Gods means of grace that help us toward enduring Christian maturity.

We see the full range of human emotions most beautifully and perfectly displayed when we look at Jesus Christ. Our Saviors chief mission on earth was to seek and save the lost, and one of the fruits of his saving mission is that God is now at work conforming us to the image of his Son, including our emotions. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son (Rom. 8:29). Christlike emotions are what were destined for, but it is also a goal we must work toward (Col. 1:29). As Christians, we must actively cultivate Christlike emotions in our lives. And to do that, we must look to Christ; we must focus on the image of Gods Son to whom we are being conformed.

The Measure of Emotional Maturity

The next time you read through the Gospels, look for how often Jesuss emotions were the exact opposite of everyone around him. You will see that our Lords emotions were almost always surprising and unexpected. When the disciples tried to keep the children from coming to Jesus , he was indignant and said to them, Let the children come to me (Mark 10:14). While the average Jewish citizen was untroubled by the merchants and money - changers in the temple, Jesus overturned their tables and drove them out with whips because of his zeal for [his Fathers] house (John 2:17). Perhaps most stunning of all, we see our Lords thankfulness as he offered up the bread and wine at the Last Supper, symbols of his death and suffering (Luke 22:1920).

The reason for Jesus s radically different emotions was their object: to please his heavenly Father. Jesus loved to do his Fathers will, was angry at whatever offended his Father, and perfectly reflected his Fathers mercy. We see in Jesus the most exquisite blend of compassion, sympathy, pain, frustration and anger in one whose mind and heart were in perfect harmony with his Fathers, wrote What about our emotionsare they in harmony with Gods mind and heart? Is their object the glory of God? Godly emotions will be in tune with pleasing God, which means they will frequently surprise the world around us.

Many people assume that emotional maturity means fewer highs and fewer lows, that our goal is to feel less rather than more. But when we look at Jesuss emotions, we see that he was a man of deep, intense feeling. He was deeply moved (John The more Christlike our emotions become, therefore, the more deeply we will feel: well experience deeper love for our fellow Christians, greater hatred of evil, stronger pity and compassion for sinners who are perishing, and more fervent joy in the Lord. So ask yourself: Do I feel more deeply about the things of God than ever before? How we answer is a measure of our emotional maturity.

Finally, Jesus s emotions always moved him to action. He had compassion (Matt. 14:14) on the crowds, and so he fed them. He felt pity (Matt. 20:34) for the two blind men, and so he restored their sight. Most profoundly of all, Jesus , for the joy that was set before him endured the cross (Heb. 12:2). Sometimes we feel right emotionsperhaps when we read Gods Word each morning or listen to the sermon on Sundayand we allow the feelings to wash over us and fade away. But our godly feelings are intended to move us to action. Compassion for others should overflow into acts of generosity. Love for our brothers and sisters in Christ should move us to pray for them. Grief over our sin should lead us to repent.