Feelings are not always based on God’s truth. In fact, most often they are not, as emotions can be very misleading.

Deception all started in the Garden of Eden when the serpent tempted Adam and Eve to succumb to evil. Before that, perfection was everywhere, and no one hated anyone. There were no murderers, no power struggles, no jealousy, no envy, no poverty, and no immorality of any kind. The world was a wonderful place without any sight of sin, but the world would not stay perfect forever. Things took a turn for the worse when Eve succumbed to the serpent’s deception that God had been keeping something good from her. The Bible says that this serpent was more skilled in deceit than any living creature of the field which the Lord God had made (Genesis 3:1).

Eve was naïve, trusting, unaware, innocent, and susceptible to the enemy’s lies. The serpent took full advantage of the situation by making her doubt what God originally asked her to do. He asked her, “Can it really be that God has said, “You shall not eat from any tree of the garden?” Eve replied with what God said by saying, “We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden, except the fruit from the tree which is in the middle of the garden. God said, “You shall not eat from it nor touch it otherwise you will die. But the serpent replied, “You certainly will not die, for God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing the difference between good and evil.”

Eve saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was delightful to look at, and a tree to be desired to make one wise and insightful. I believe that she ate the forbidden fruit because she felt God was keeping something good from her. She let her feelings, which were based on doubt and Satan’s deceit, lead her desires out of God’s will.

Satan’s lies often try to convince us that something good has been kept from us. This may keep us feeling discontent as wives and mothers.

Satan May Whisper Things to You Like:

• Your husband should give you all his time and attention.
• Your husband should make more money.  
• Your husband will never be the man of your dreams.
• Your husband will never change.
• Your husband is a slob.
• Your husband is emotionally inept.
• Your husband does not help you raise the kids properly.
• Your children will never learn to respect you.
• Your children will never listen to you.
• Your children will not succeed in their lives.
• Your children will never get over depression, anxiety, or any other struggle.

When Emotions Control Us:

When we listen to lies from the devil, eventually we will get caught up in our own emotions, thinking that good things will be kept from us. We may believe there is no hope left for us or our family. As a result, it may lead to destructive choices that overtime lure a wife away from her family.

Women must not let their feelings dictate their beliefs or choices.

Eve began listening to lies that made evil seem like a good choice. She may have begun daydreaming of the satisfying, sweet and juicy flavor of the fruit flowing over her tongue, or that the fruit would make her wise and insightful. I believe that she honestly thought it would make her life better than what God had promised her. Not only had she fallen for the lies and sinned against God, but she involved her husband in sinning as well. As each of their sins were exposed, they tried to cover their shame, and tried to hide from God. Unfortunately, they both had to live with the painful consequences of letting their emotions and false beliefs get the best of them.

Eve must have had to face the truth and acknowledge that her emotions led not only herself, but also her husband into sin. She must have had many strong feelings about what she thought eating the fruit would do for her life. These feelings urged her to go ahead and eat the fruit. She lacked the faith and obedience to follow God’s will and to be able to manage her emotions accordingly.

A Simple List to Overcome Your Emotions:

• Begin by praying and opening your heart before God about the issues you are facing (even seemingly minor issues).
• Never try to deny or hide your feelings from God. He cares even about the inconsequential feelings in your life.
• Allow God to reveal to you the truth in His Word to guide you instead of allowing your feelings to control you.
• Acknowledge when your feelings are out of alignment with God’s Word.
• Continually study and speak scripture that pertains to your situation to renew your mind’s perspectives.
• Manage your emotions. Stop yourself in the midst of negative thoughts before you allow your emotions to spiral out of control.
• Find scriptures to build your faith when your emotions begin to overtake you.
• Pause and reflect on the emotions you feel throughout the course of the day. Be mindful and decide you will believe and live by God’s Word instead.
• Admit to your wrongdoings and repent of any sinful behavior.

Conclusion:

Change is not always easy, especially when learning new thought patterns or undoing bad habits, but if you want to live in peace and be emotionally stable, be honest with the truth about your emotions. Try to understand why you feel the way you do, and why you may have gone down a destructive path with your life. Sin leaves us with a bad conscience, a feeling deep within that tells us something is wrong. This unsettled feeling will not go away unless we face it, and deal with our problem of sin.

Taking time to understand our emotions and the truth about our false beliefs and sinful actions is a process that begins with seeking God’s truth through His Word. This is a journey that progresses one step at a time if you continually seek God. By studying his Word, your sins will become known in truth, which of course will lead you to repentance, forgiveness, healing and eventually to the answers and restoration you are seeking. You will not wake up one day and have it all figured out. It is a life-long process, but each step we take in understanding the truth about our emotions and beliefs will bring us closer to God and peace with ourselves and those around us.

We need to realize that only God can transform our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors … and mend our broken hearts. Our freedom begins when we truthfully face our problems without excuses. Our lives do not need to remain the way they are now. With God’s help our minds can be renewed according to the Word of God. The better our thoughts become, the better we can get control over our emotions.

Maybe you have found yourself in a similar place of realizing that you have failed to understand your emotions and the reasons that you feel the way you do. Our emotions are a very powerful thing that God has given us to use properly. The problem with emotions, however, is when our thought life is not rooted in truth, and we lack discernment. We can see this just by reading about Eve and how she was deceived by her emotions. She separated herself from God and instead her feelings became the path that led her as “truth”.

Our emotions can be convincing, especially when we feel they are based on facts. Without hope and faith, emotions can betray us and lead us away from God’s truth.

A Snippet of My Story

I found myself realizing that many of my thoughts and feelings were simply not true according to God’s Word. It was only in my faith where I found the powerful God-given tools to transform my perspectives. For example, there was a time when facts told me that my relationship with my family was destroyed. I realized that I had done so much damage. My reality led me to feel our situation was bleak and hopeless. The facts told me there was no hope, but my faith told me that with God there is always hope!

When my daughter Shannon had run away from home, it left me filled with nothing but fear and hopelessness. The facts told me that this was a really bad situation, and I felt there was a very good possibility that she was never coming back or wanted anything to do with me anymore. My faith however, told another story that God is faithful. In my heart, I knew that she was going to come back home, and our relationship would be better than ever before! Even though my faith was not yet my reality in the natural realm, I believed in God’s promises of restoration being real and true. Rather than allowing my imagination to run wild, or believe in any of my negative feelings during this tragic circumstance, I focused on the Word of God. I believed every word that I read in the Bible about restoration.

I studied the meaning of faith as defined in the Bible. It is being sure of what we hope for and being certain of what we do not yet see as reality (Hebrews 11:1).  At this tragic time of my life, everything was a complete mess, but in the spiritual realm, it was my faith that promised my life, and relationships, more hope than ever before. I decided that I was not going to give up, until I received everything God promised me.

The most difficult part of this process may be facing the truth about your own thoughts and behaviors. We can begin by saying to God “I have acted poorly and made some very hurtful choices. I have no more excuses, please show me the truth about my troubles and the way out.”

Remember, without hope and faith, emotions can betray us and lead us away from God’s truth. It is in your prayer life where your faith and hope can be restored.

Questions You May Need to Ask Yourself:

Is my faith based on my emotions, the facts, or God’s promises?

Have I allowed my emotions to rule over me and control my decisions?

What area of my life have I allowed my emotions to become out of control?

Final Note: I hope you will take the time to pray and begin the process of being honest with yourself. Face your own personal problems and the truth about your life. This is where profound changes in your own life can begin! I am proud of you for taking the proper action steps to move forward in your faith. We must begin to work on our own behalf by making changes in ourselves first. Take it from me, learning where we have fallen short in our own various roles is essential before we can ever begin to confront anyone else for the way they may have mistreated us.

My emotions sure have taught me some hard lessons as a wife and mother, and the destruction they can cause. It has in turn, inspired me to share these instances of my personal story to encourage other women to grow in faith. I realize that sharing the worst parts of my past could be the most life-changing source of help for someone. Knowing this has made all the a difference in my life.

Blessings,

Jeannie Remy, Heart of a Wife