Emotions are a distinct set of feelings that enter human awareness and are highly motivational. Noah Webster described emotion as a "strong impression, or vivid sensation that immediately produces a reaction." The nature of the reaction, according to Webster, is to either "appropriate and enjoy, or avoid and repel the exciting cause."
-Noah Webster, The American Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed. (1828; reprint, Foundation for American Christian Education, 1985).
Untamed emotions lead people to believe non-truth. Emotions are a major cause of spiritual woundedness. Several chapters are dedicated to understanding this problem. The deceptive disconnection between the stimulus of emotions and reality stems from man's rebellion against God and the opening this gave Satan to the thought processes of man.
"A sound [well-informed and spiritually balanced] heart is the life of the flesh: but envy [and related selfish emotions] the rottenness of the bones" (Proverbs 14:30).
|
