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Show & Share - Proverbs - Our emotions do not rule us

Today I learned that our emotions are not to rule us.

A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.

Proverbs 25:28 (ESV)

As a continuation of our Youth Ministry teaching series on Proverbs, we learned that our emotions are not to rule us. First, we talked about some of the primary emotions/feelings we all have from time to time. Then we reviewed what it means to be a ruler or a boss and who some of the bosses are in our lives—the ultimate boss, being our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We then talked about how our emotions make us feel and what we do sometimes when we feel them which God compares to a city that’s been attacked because all its walls which normally keep everyone in the city safe were broken. Without self-control we will be ruled by our emotions. We also learned that being slow to anger and having self-control makes us better than the mighty and conquerors (Proverbs 16:32). But this does not mean that it is wrong or foolish to have emotions/feelings; rather God commands us to not be ruled by them because when we are, they will often lead us to sin (Eph 4:26). Thankfully, when we make Jesus our Boss/Lord, one of the fruits of the Spirit we’re given when we’re born again is self-control (Gal 5:22-24). It isn’t always easy to not be ruled by our emotions, but we have Spirit, prayer to God, the Word, and a perfect Boss/Lord to help us. We finished with scenarios in which we discussed how we could choose Jesus as our Boss instead of our emotions.

Family Activity:

Sometimes when we try not to be ruled by our emotions, we pretend we don’t have them, but God’s word is clear that having emotions isn’t foolish/sinful; it’s what we do when we feel them that can be (which includes thoughts of hatred, envy, etc.). Continue to encourage your child to pray to God, recall His Word, and follow their Boss, Jesus Christ when emotions come on strong and try to rule them.