Emotions — Northwestern Media On-Air

Emotional Check-in

During our emotional check in, use these guidelines to practice being honest and to own your feelings as cleanly as possible.

a. Use the primary emotions (see below). Don’t hide behind nicer words such as “emotional,” “frustrated,” “disappointed,” “upset”, etc.

b. Use “I” statements

c. Own your emotions without modifiers (“sort of”, “some”, “a little”, “kinda”, etc.).

d. Own your feelings, saying “I feel…,” as opposed to “I am…” This helps us know that our feelings are a part of us and not the totality of who we are or our identity.

In the Psalms, SELAH was used as a musical annotation to describe a pause, or a breath. We use this word as an acronym for our emotions because it’s difficult to know what you’re feeling when you’re running through life at a million miles per hour. The only way we can truly FEEL our feelings is if we stop, pause, take a breath, and check out what’s going on inside.

SELAH (and other primary emotions)

· Sadness—usually connected to loss or pain

· Excitement—anticipation of something happening

· Love—when you are open, vulnerable, connected

· Anger—which arises when a boundary or value has been crossed

· Happiness/Joy—opens you up to what is bigger, vision for your life

· Fear—arises when there is something risky/unknown in your life

· Peace—when you are at rest, even in the midst of life’s challenges

· Gratitude—thankful; a sense of abundance

· Hope—when there is an expectation of good; a lightness

· Shame—when we feel like we are bad, flawed, or wrong.

You are made in God’s image. Perhaps you categorize emotions into right and wrong. Did Jesus feel any of the “wrong” or “bad” emotions? Here are some Biblical examples of Jesus as He experienced emotions, as well as some verses from the epistles:

Luke 19:41-42 – Jesus felt sadness (wept, cried).
Luke 10:21 – Jesus felt joy.
Mark 3:5 – Jesus felt anger.
Mark 14:33-36 – Jesus felt sadness and fear. He was distressed, troubled, and anxious.
John 2:13-16 – Jesus felt anger (boundary had been crossed; value not honored).
John 11:5 – Jesus felt love/tender towards people.
John 11:33-36 – distressed; wept; showed His love
Ephesians 4:26 – Be angry but don’t sin.
I John 4:18 – Love casts out fear. Not pushing through or beating ourselves up for not trusting enough but loving ourselves in our fear. Acknowledging and understanding why we might be afraid. Helping ourselves move through it.