As a Man Feels – The Power of Emotions

WEEKLY DEVOTIONAL BY PATRICE TSAGUE

What is driving your business decisions?
Do positive or negative emotions affect your choices? 
What are your dominant feelings today? 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. – Galatians 5:22-23 (NKJV)

As a Man Feels – The Power of Emotions

Emotions are our feelings, such as joy, sadness, or anger, usually expressed through actions. Our logic, reason, or spirit should drive our actions more than anything else, but there are times when, if our emotions are strong, they may drive our actions and can cause us to override our decision-making faculties.

What is currently driving your business decisions?

As entrepreneurs, there are benefits to allowing our emotions to influence our decisions. The benefits include:

1. Our emotions fuel our passion
2. Our emotions help us connect with our team, customers, and other stakeholders
3. Our emotions help us tap into our vulnerability which humanizes us
4. Our emotions can ignite our creativity 

The challenge, however, is that our emotions have a negative effect as well.
The negatives include:

1. Our emotions can cause us to become illogical
2. Our emotions can move us to be led by the flesh instead of the spirit
3. Our emotions can cause us to be impulsive
4. Our negative emotions can lead to anxiety and depression

All of the above can lead to bad decision-making, with short and long-term consequences.

Are you experiencing positive or negative emotions?

The key to becoming a successful Biblical Entrepreneur is not to deny your emotions, but rather to manage and channel them. 

Ephesians 4:26 says:  

“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry (NKJV)

There were moments in Jesus’ life when He showed emotions:

Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, 
“If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things 
that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.” 
– Luke 19:41-42 (NKJV)

Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. 
– John 3:13-15 (NKJV)

When emotions are demonstrated in a positive way, they are expressed constructively – for example, as passion, compassion, or joy. But when emotions are negative, if not controlled, they will be expressed destructively, for example, with anger, impatience, impulsiveness, and so on. Negative emotions, if left unchecked, can also lead to anxiety or depression. All emotions, whether positive or negative, will affect not only the person who is expressing them, but also those around them, and have a direct effect on the success or failure of everything that they are involved in.

How do you harness positive emotions?

1. Recognize and Allow God to Heal Your Inner Brokenness 
   And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. –  2 Corinthians 12:9 (NKJV)
   
2. Align your thoughts with the Word of God 
   For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.
   For the weapons of our warfare are not  carnal but mighty in God for pulling
   down strongholds,  casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts
   itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to
   the obedience of Christ,  and being ready to punish all disobedience when
   your obedience is fulfilled. – 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 (NKJV)
   
3. Be Led by the Spirit Rather Than the Flesh
   For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you
   put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.  For as many as are led
   by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. – Romans 8:13-14 (NKJV)
   
4. Master the Power of Self-Control
   But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
   kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control.
   Against such there is no law. – Galatians 5:22-23 (NKJV)
   
5. Take Responsibility for Your Feelings, Rather Than Blaming Others
   Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.  But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
   – James 1:13-15 (NKJV)

Emotions have power. They can fuel you either to success and growth or to despair and failure. 

Is there a dominant emotion that drives your decision-making?
If so, is it leading you toward success and growth, or toward despair and failure?

My prayer for you today is that God will give you the wisdom and grace to cultivate positive emotions and to manage negative emotions, so that you can thrive as a Biblical Entrepreneur for His glory.  

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This devotional was taken from the book The Buck Stops With You, by Patrice Tsague and Gabrielle E. Tsague. To learn the other 8 virtues to take control of your life and realize your destiny, click on the button below to purchase the book: