The Spirit Vs the Flesh

An emotion is a strong feeling that arises spontaneously. The word emotion comes from the Latin word emovere, which means to set in motion. Emotions have the power to set the mind in motion. Sometimes this leads us toward wholeness and health. But at other times, it leads us toward brokenness and pain. As a result, your feelings and emotions have incredible power. They play a major role in shaping how you view the world around you.

Our feelings can be both a blessing and a curse! Sometimes, we can’t help but be overcome with excitement and joy. In those moments, we can’t imagine how life could get any better. But at other times, discouragement and depression set in. During those times, it's all we can do to even get out of bed. No matter how hard we try to regulate our feelings and emotions, they always seem to ebb and flow with the ups and downs of life.

This is why we need to learn to evaluate our emotions, so that feelings like fear, anger, bitterness, and envy don’t control our lives. According to the apostle Paul, this process is part of the battle between the Spirit and the flesh: Who will we allow to control of our emotions? Wrestling with this question leads to an important truth: If you don’t learn to recognize and bring negative (fleshly) emotions under the Holy Spirit’s control, they will control you!