Emotions, It’s Complicated is the title of our new series and we’re going to take a look under the hood to the things that make us tick. Hopefully, we will gain some biblical perspective on how we can and should navigate our emotions and how they effect our view of the world and interaction with people.
The first week we’re going to look at the theme of Self Awareness. This is the understanding of one’s emotions, thoughts and intentions. A person is self-aware when they can pinpoint what they are feeling and why. A self-aware person can also find restorative outlets for the emotions being experienced.
In self-awareness, it is critical to answer the question of “Who am I?” and this discovery can lead to answering more questions about life, love, and other mysteries.
Self awareness brings discovery to our strengths and weaknesses, values, and convictions. It also looks into our past and points to experiences and relationships that are impacting our actions and reactions, behaviors and emotions in certain situations.
Something else that self awareness provides is insight into our coping mechanisms and what I gravitate towards under stress and in challenging situations.
This is important stuff and is necessary for growth and all seeks to answer the WHYs of our life. It requires work but promotes our overall well being and speaks to our emotional intelligence. It is important to ask and answer the WHY but we can’t just stop there.
One difference that was found to distinguish between individuals who had good self awareness and those who only thought they were self aware comes in the form of a question.
It is as simple as asking WHAT instead of WHY.
What provides possibilities and opportunities whereas why simply brings conclusion. And it was found that even with the why answered (although often it goes left unanswered) individuals were still unhappy and dissatisfied.
In John 9, there’s a man who Jesus sees who had been blind since birth and he ends up healing him which creates quite a commotion with a lot of people.
Before the healing takes place, his disciples ask, “Why was this man born blind?” They want the reason. Although it’s not directly a self reflection question, it speaks to their own situations. Knowing the WHY for this blind man would provide understanding about challenges and difficulties in their own lives. Therefore, it really is about themselves.
Jesus responds by answering the WHAT of the WHY question. He said that this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
In other words, Jesus says the WHY isn’t near as important as the WHAT. He points to the future, to possibilities yet to be seen. He calls the disciples to ask, “What can be accomplished through this hardship for the kingdom of God?”
So, on our road to emotional intelligence and as we look at growing in our self-awareness, I invite you to ask a better question. I know it’s tempting to want to know WHY - Why me? Why is this happening? Why am I going through this? Why isn’t God fixing this? Etc. But don’t bank on that answer.
Jesus reveals the productive side of self-awareness by asking (or rather answering) WHAT - What can this do to reveal the glory of God? What good can come from this? What kingdom good will result through this?
This moves us from a closed minded, conclusive mentality, to an open minded opportunistic mentality.
Go. Grow. And be a Glory Show.
#EMOTIONALintelligence
#SelfAwareness
#Emotions
#ItsComplicated
#RestoringWholenessOfLife
Brett
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