I Am Learning How To Control My Emotions Better

You never know when it is going to happen.

You feel calm.  

Out of nowhere comes a CRAZY driver.

Your whole spiritual life goes out the window:  heart racing, mouth yelling, hands out the window.

No control.

And it was on the way home from CHURCH!

How do we significantly change how we control our emotions?

1. Work on your walls.

“Walls” in Scripture refer to barriers to your enemies.  Nehemiah worked on building a huge wall so that Jerusalem was defended.

“A man without self-control is like a city that is broken into and left without walls” (Prov. 25:28)

Your “walls” are barriers in your soul, spiritual walls.

Prayer is my most fantastic “gap filler” to a hole in my spiritual wall.

“Lord, help me” is my instant response to a grenade lobbed over the wall! Sounds simple, but it works.

A few minutes of prayer at home before getting out into traffic also has an amazing effect on your reactions.

Start working on your “prayer wall.”

2. Pay attention to your mood.

It’s easy to wake up in a foul mood for whatever reason.

You are touchy and sensitive to everyone in the home.  It builds all morning.  

Suddenly, when the least thing happens, you blow up.

Change your mood.

“Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.” (Prov. 16:32) 

Start to sing a hymn, a Scripture.  ANYTHING.  Start verbally thanking God for health, food, work, your car.

Now, you are “ruling your spirit.”

YOU can change your mood before it rules over you.

3. Keep away from certain situations.

We call it “a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs!”

It is a room where you know you are surrounded by things that can send you “off.”

Change rooms.

If the employee cafeteria is a powder keg, bring your lunch and eat outside or in your office.

If someone you clash with is coming over, get involved in a good outdoor project that involves a lot of work.

Engineer out the problem moments.

Don’t be the only visiting team fan defiantly sitting in the home team bleachers.

• Ask God to help you.

• Pay attention to your mood.

• Change rooms.

You could add to this list.

Work on it.  See what works and what is effective.

Controlling your emotions is a huge challenge but doable.

The Holy Spirit is your Helper, and everyone who knows you will be amazed at your new reactions!