How to Make 2020 the Year of The Emotion Project
I love the idea of choosing a focus word each year. So many of my friends testify to the ways God has used a specific word to help them grow in faith and change them in ways they never imagined.
Although I loved the idea, I always tended to take on topics that included multiple words and simply see where the Lord lead me.
Until 2018, when the Lord placed a word on my heart and mind. A word I knew would be my focus for the rest of my life.
SEEK
Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and He will give you everything you need.
Luke 12:31
You may wonder why this word, out of all of the words in the English language … hit me the way it did?
Because 15 years ago, life circumstances shattered me and I needed help. Help I knew the world couldn’t give me because I’d already read and tried every self-help book I could find.
I truly believe it’s the Holy Spirit who prompted me to cry out in prayer, to grab my Bible, and to begin SEEKing God with all my heart.
And slowly, page after page and verse after verse God proved to me the promise part of Jesus’ words, the “He will give you everything you need” part … was absolutely true!
God has and does give me everything I need.
You see, I think it’s become easy for us to celebrate and thank God for the secure and eternal future we have through faith in Jesus, while at the same time ignoring the fact that “everything” we need includes the things necessary to apply His will to our every day lives.
So, for the past two years, I’ve gone to God’s Word and asked Him to help me know His will each day. It’s why the tagline here at Counting My Blessings is “At the intersection of faith and life.”
I believe SEEKing, knowing, trusting, and following God’s will is the best way to live a rich and satisfying life.
Which invites us to ask the question…
What is God’s will for everyday life?
Jesus summed up God’s will this way…
“‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself. The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
Matthew 22:38–40
God’s will for us is … love Him and love others!
Sounds so simple, doesn’t it?!
Yeah, not so much!
There are so many things vying for our love and attention. Things that can easily become idols and keep us from loving God completely, let alone as well as we’d like to love Him.
And we all know it would be much easier to love our neighbors if our neighbors were easier to love. Right?!
That is how I decided it might be a good idea to work on The Emotion Project.
Although we know…
Love is more than a feeling … love is the way we act on our feelings.
Most of us focus on love the emotion rather than love the action.
Truthfully, I’m all about feelings and emotions! I sometimes think my feelings have feelings!
And … I believe our emotions are given to us by God.
He wants us to experience joy, peace, gratitude, kindness, compassion, and love. But sadly because of sin, we also experience grief, sadness, fear, loneliness, and anger.
So every day we live with positive and negative highs and lows … things the dictionary calls “states of mind” or “attitudes.” Things most of us call feelings or emotions.
The Emotion Project
In an effort to SEEK God’s will … I want to take a closer look at what the Bible says about living with emotions.
To take a closer look at verses like:
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.
I Corinthians 13:4–5
You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.
James 1:19
“Don’t sin by letting anger control you.”
Ephesians 4:26
“Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Joshua 1:9
But there’s more … I don’t want to simply know God’s will for living with my emotions, I want to know how to manage my emotions in ways that will give God glory. I want to take my feelings, pause, and ask myself #WWGGG – What Would Give God Glory?
Paul wrote in his letter to the Colossians:
Since God chose you to be the holy people He loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
Colossians 3:12–17
Based on these verses, God wants us to do the following when it comes to our emotions…
- Be merciful, kind, humble, gentle, and patient.
- Remember that we are sinners dependent on God’s forgiveness.
- Fill our hearts and minds with the truth of His Word.
- Prayerfully and humbly surrender to the power of the Holy Spirit.
- Make it our heart’s desire to love like Jesus.
- Let the peace we have in Christ rule over negative emotions.
- Live each day with gratitude for all God!
Because He promises that…
Even when it comes to our emotions, when you and I seek Him first, when we want to glorify Him with attitudes, words, and actions, and when we make loving Him and others our highest priority—He will give us everything we need.
Maybe not everything we want.
But definitely, everything we need.
It’s a promise we can count on!
His Word says…
“Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28
Nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.
Romans 8:38
“My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”
2 Corinthians 12:9
“Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”
Deuteronomy 13:6
Whether our need is physical, mental, spiritual, or emotional … I believe God is true to His eternal promises.
When you and I seek Him first, He will give us what we need each day to draw us closer to Himself, to make us more like Jesus, and to help us live for His glory!
I hope you’ll join me each Monday and Thursday as I take a closer look at The Emotion Project. We’ll take a look at what the world has to say and compare it to what God’s Word says … and we’ll pray and ask God to help us know His will that might manage our emotions for His glory.
In the comments, let me know about the emotions you’d like to talk about this year because the truth is…
We all have to deal with emotions! Our own and those demonstrated by the people around us.
But by God’s grace and with His help, I believe we can learn to act and react in ways that will give Him glory. Maybe not perfectly … but better.
So, don’t forget to subscribe to Counting My Blessings so you never miss an update of The Emotion Project – Seeking God’s Will and Living for God’s Glory with our Emotions.
You don’t want to miss next week when we ask the question … Does God Want Me to Be Happy?
Great word. God bless you
Thank you so much, Elizabeth! God bless you!
Deb. As positive as all your writings are, it is hard to believe you previously had a “rough” time; but mighty glad God took you by the hand & led you to share His Word as you do. I have always tried to be a positive person; but when my husband joined that false cult, my life has become topsy turvey..March will be four years so he joined them believing only they have the truth & all other religions tell lies & only they will be in Heaven. I realized he is like the Prodigal Son & we know how that turned out so I began praying for my prodigal, Ray, to leave that mess behind and return to God’s Truth! I look forward to reading everything you write!
Thank you, Frances! I believe it is remembering the awful things God has helped me through that helps me to be positive and hopeful each day. He has been so faithful to give me strength and courage when I had none of my own. I am so sorry you are in this painful season. I am stopping to pray for you today! God bless you and give you everything you need each day!
Thank this was great
Thank you so much, Tammy! God bless you!
“When you and I seek Him first, He will give us what we need each day to draw us closer to Himself, to make us more like Jesus, and to help us live for His glory!”
Deb, I cannot begin to tell you how much inspiration and encouragement you give me at Counting My Blessings. I so needed to be reminded that seeking God first will ever draw us closer to Him. I’ve had a bittersweet holiday, one where I felt that the devil was in an all out attack upon my faith and belief, while all the joys of Christmas swirled around me. I really feel that as we, as seekers, come closer to the Lord, the deceiver and chief mounts his most vicious attacks. Hoping I can write about this soon in a blog.
In the meantime, know I pray that God continues to bless you and yours!
I’m so sorry the holidays have been hard, Martha! I’m praying for you today and asking God to give you His peace and encouragement. It is such a blessing that we can stand together and go to Him. God bless you, my friend, and give you everything you need.
This helped me today. I have a co-worker that puts me in a bad mood and negativity thoughts. She feels she doesn’t haven’t to carry a full load like the rest of us and tends to stop working around 2 everyday to surf the internet and text on her phone while the ear of us are drowning in work. I find myself getting angry that she does this and has be allowed to her by with this. I tell myself everyday that I will not let it bother me but I fail at it everyday. Any other suggestions on how to let this not bother me like it does. This person was a good friend at one time, but because she is ok with this behavior it has changed my opinion of her. I hate that!
Hi Amy! Thanks so much for visiting. It is hard to manage our own emotions but I sometimes think knowing how to best ways to cope with other people’s attitudes and emotions are where the true challenges lie. I’m sorry you have to deal with that each day! It’s hard. Praying God will give you everything you need each day! God bless you!
Thank you for your obedience in writing this. I so want to get my emotions under control. I know it is God’s will for my life. I look forward to this study. I would appreciate it if you could address resentment.
Me too, Deb! I typically write about the things God is working on in my life and as a highly emotional person … this seems like the perfect time to SEEK God’s will on the ways He wants me to manage my feelings. I have added resentment to my list of emotions to address. Thanks for visiting and for adding an important emotion. God bless you!
I love your insightful words of digging in, pressing closer to Yahweh, clinging to His hem.
My struggle is forgiveness and loving others. So your words here, confirmed with God’s Word; challenges me to do the hard work to get after this.
Seeking more healing in 2020 so I can love people better.
So I can forgive completely.
All Praise.
All Honor
All Glory to the One who loved first.
Thanks so much for your kind encouragement, Laurie! I think forgiveness can be hard for all of us at times. I know it’s God’s will for us because of the freedom it gives. I’m looking forward to digging deeper into God’s Word for insight and help in the next few weeks. Your right, we love better when we forgive well. God bless you! I’m looking forward to getting to know you.
I have chosen a “focus word” every year for as long as I can remember and I look forward to it every year. I start praying about it in November and become much more aware of all words as possibilities. This year, I chose, Abide, as I really want to be more Abiding in Him. I am 3 days into the New Year with my word and am having the “multiple word” experiences with it, including the word you shared with us today, seek. It is all part of Abiding so I see. I am now looking forward to see how my word “Abide” expands as I continue on. Thanks so much!!
I love that! Abiding in Jesus – to rest in Him, pursue Him, and know Him. I love it! It sounds like it will be an exciting year of blessings in the Lord! Thank you!
I am so thankful God led me to your blog. This message is spot on and exactly what I need to hear. The last few months have been an emotional roller coaster for me because of choices my adult child is making, and I thank you for your prayers, words of wisdom, kindness, and genuine Christian concern. You are an encouragement too many. May God continue to bless you!
I’m so glad you’re here, Brenda! It is hard to watch our children make self-defeating choices. I’m sorry. We always have plenty to pray about … especially as parents. God bless you! Asking God to bless you!
Hi Deb. This was such a lovely post, as always. Your word seek is similar to the word God gave me last year-pursue. May we always seek or pursue our Lord!
I’m looking forward to reading your thoughts about whether or not God wants us to be happy. Many theologians seem to believe He doesn’t. Perhaps our happiness isn’t His chief concern, but I believe a loving Father desires His child is happy.
Peace and grace,
Tammy
Thank you, Tammy! I like using the word pursue – you’re right, they share the same goal. I’m looking forward to digging into the best ways to handle our emotions and starting with happiness. I agree, I think sometimes it gets discounted. Maybe we focus too much on “taking up the cross” rather than celebrating our blessings. I can’t wait to dig a little deeper. Blessings and hugs!
Thank YOU Deb SO MUCH for the inspiration!! And I LOVE ❤️ how you did the Lettering of WWGGG, It’s SO Awesome!! Also I WANT to COMMEND for YOUR AWARDS On YOUR Blog???????? I Really ENJOY YOUR Articles!!Thank You.
Thank you, Cheri! I am so very blessed by your kind encouragement! Asking God to bless you today!
I have struggled with emotional overeating for about 12 years. I don’t have a food addiction exactly, but the habit has developed a large appetite and I am now very obese. It seems a complex thing to me now. Years ago, I used to wonder why a heavy person would let themselves become heavy, but now that I am obese, I say to my children, “If weight loss was easy, there wouldn’t be any overweight people on the planet.” I used to view diets as a prison sentence, once the time had elapsed (diet) I was free! So I went back to old eating habits. I kind of viewed it as a temporary medicine, once finished the course of antibiotics (duration of diet) I should be good to go. I realise I am setting a bad example to my family but for some stupid reason, if I’m hungry or emotional or tired, I eat. I need to lean on the Holy Spirit for self control. I used to be an all or nothing person regarding weight loss, but the novel has long worn off, unfortunately. (I had partial success, but a few months after coming off a diet, I would end up weighing more than before I started. After one diet, I told myself I never wanted to see 200 on the scale. Well that number eventually became 215, right now I don’t want to see 220 lbs!!!) Somehow, my whole vein of thinking needs a huge makeover.
Esther, thank you so much for sharing your journey with us. Managing our emotions in healthy positive ways can be really hard. I think we all have areas where we struggle. I’m praying for you today and hope you’ll join us throughout the year. I’m looking forward to learning more about what the Bible has to say about living with our God-given emotions in ways that bless and encourage. God bless you!