First posted to: https://surehopecounseling.com/emotion-in-scripture-philippians-47/
An Important Message for a New Year!
SureHope Counseling Center wants to wish you a very Happy New Year! We hope 2026 is a year of blessings for you and your family!
Each year, SureHope Counseling & Training Center takes time to do a deep dive into a psychological and theological research topic and writes about that topic throughout the year. Last year, we wrote about healing from family-of-origin wounds. This year, we will be focusing on emotion in Scripture.
What is emotion according to Scripture? How do we process emotion, and how do we heal from emotional turmoil? These are just a few of the many ways we will be exploring emotion throughout this year. We invite you to join us on this journey!
To start, I want to explore the idea that Scripture shows us a direction for our emotions to pursue. The Scripture that comes to mind is Philippians 4:7:
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
I know of a couple who used this verse to help them through chronic suffering that lasted a lifetime. There were ongoing physical and mental health struggles that did not resolve. Through decades of suffering, they relied on this verse to help guide their emotions. When others spoke about this couple, they were often described as joyful people.
I share this story because it can be easy to misinterpret this Scripture. The struggle was not removed for this couple (although I have witnessed struggles being removed for others), and yet they experienced a peace and joy that passed all natural understanding. Sometimes, people are so focused on correcting or protecting against misinterpretations of Scripture that they fail to fully step into it and digest its message for their lives.
This is what I want to invite you to do. What does it look like to teach our hearts and minds to pursue the ways Christ would have us direct our emotions? There is a saying that the best teacher of Scripture is Scripture itself. Let’s take a broader view of this passage. What do the surrounding verses of Philippians 4:7 say, and how do they connect to the entirety of God’s Word?
In Philippians chapter 4, we see many important truths, including:
- The need to pray about everything with thanksgiving (verse 6)
- The need to think about whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and of good report—if there is any virtue and if there is anything worthy of praise—to focus our thoughts on these things (verse 8)
So how does this apply to “emotion in Scripture,” the entirety of God’s Word, and what it shows us today?
It shows us how to walk through life. It shows us how to focus our hearts and minds on the Lord. It clarifies the need to talk to the Lord about everything, to challenge our minds to follow the types of thoughts outlined in Scripture, and to trust that the peace Christ gives reaches beyond the circumstances of our lives on any given day.
Learning to live in the way these Scriptures depict leads to growth in our relationship with Christ. They help give our emotions a direction to pursue by grounding them in ultimate truth. Emotions are very important, and understanding ultimate truth helps us interpret them correctly. Interpreting emotions correctly can lead to greater clarity, hope, and peace in your life—an important goal for every year.
Happy New Year!
-Kelly Saylor – learn more about working with Kelly here!
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