How to Overcome The 5 Emotions That Can Spoil Your Peace of Mind
Written by Jimmie Burroughs
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The 5 emotions that can spoil your peace of mind and how to control them is the object of this article. It is easy to go through life never realizing that emotions are in control of your life. Emotions are good when they are used correctly but when they are misused they can spoil an otherwise good life and bring untold grief. This is a rather long article that took me around 8 hours to write so I hope you will take the time to read it through. I think it will be well worth your time.
5 emotions that can spoil your peace of mind:
1. Fear
2. Worry/ Anxiety
3. Anger
4. Hate
5. Bitterness
Learn how not to let fear control you
“Fear is a vital response to physical and emotional danger—if we couldn’t feel it, we couldn’t protect ourselves from legitimate threats. But often we fear situations that are in no way life-or-death, and thus hang back for no good reason. Traumas or bad experiences can trigger a fear response within us that is hard to quell. Yet exposing ourselves to our personal demons is the best way to move past them.” http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/fear
Fear is a God given drive that is absolutely necessary for our safety and well being. Without it we would not know to protect ourselves from harm. It is when fear becomes an addiction and harmful to us both physically and emotionally that it must be dealt with.
Fear will overcome you if you don’t make every effort to overcome it. It is easy to be subservient to this emotion and not even know it. Fear is an emotional response to danger, real or perceived. The permutations that underscore fear is the feeling that things are bad and you aren’t going to be all right and that is when it becomes a detriment rather than a needed help.
It takes an overt effort to train you brain to counteract fear or fear will take control and drive your life.
There are some effective things that you can do to help you to achieve lasting results:
- Control your diet by eliminating things which stimulate the “fight or flight” response: sugar, caffeine etc.
- Avoid situations that reinforce fear like newscasts, some movies, certain people, arguments etc.
- Choose friends who are positive and encouragers.
When you are experiencing anxiety or fear, find a quiet place to relax your body. Recline and try relaxing your muscles beginning with your toes upward. Relaxing in a hot tub or hot bath is great for releasing built up tension.
Bible verses on fear:
The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread? Psalm 27:1
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” Psalm 23:4
“The LORD is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me?” Psalm 118:6
“For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7
“You, who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD; He is their help and their shield.” Psalm 115:11
“Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6
“Then David said to his son Solomon, “Be strong and courageous, and act; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the LORD God, my God, and is with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you until all the work for the service of the house of the LORD is finished.” 1 Chronicles 28:30
“When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me?” Psalm 56:3-4
“Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.” 1 John 4:18
“For I am the LORD your God, who upholds your right hand, Who says to you, Do not fear, I will help you.” Isaiah 41:13
“Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10:28
“Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you, so that we confidently say, the Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” Hebrews 13:5-6
“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.” Psalm 56:3
“What shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31
“So we can confidently say, the Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can a man do to me?” Hebrews 13:6
“But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you,
O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through waters, I will be with you; and through rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord you God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you.” Isaiah 43:1-3
Dealing with worry
Dealing with worry is one of those things that most everyone has to deal with at one time or another. When I find myself in a state of worry, I as a believer in Christ feel like it is a failure on my part to completely trust in the Lord. There are many scriptures that reassure me that I have no need to worry but just to trust in God to provide during times of anxiety and stress.
“Worry is a sin of distrusting the promise and providence of God, and yet it is a sin that Christians commit perhaps more frequently than any other.” John MacArthur
Bible Verses About Worry:
Jesus had some positive things to say about worry, anxiety and peace:
“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Matthew 6:34
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour or his span of life? Matthew 6:33
“Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give your rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.” Colossians 3:15
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” John 14:27
“Now may the Lord of peace give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.” 2 Thessalonians 3:16
“Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.” Psalms 55:22
“Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.” Psalm 55:22
“Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7
Do not be anxious for anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7
Quotes on worry
“Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow.”
Swedish Proverb
”People become attached to their burdens sometimes more than the burdens are attached to them.”
George Bernard Shaw
Worries can upset your whole life and take all the joy right out of it. So it is important to think our way through stressful situations and divert our attention to factual thinking rather than magnifying things out of proportion through worry.
Things to consider about worry:
- 95% of the things we worry about never happen and the other 5% cannot not be aborted by all the worry in the world.
- Often we make something in our mind to be much larger than it really is.
- Consider how fortunate that you are in so many ways.
- Get busy searching for solutions rather than drowning in sorrow.
- Start your day on something positive like prayer and Bible reading.
- Exercise.
Controlling Anger
Anger is another God given drive which has a God given purpose. It as well as the fear drive acts to prepare a person to defend themselves against oppression. But when misused it also becomes a detriment and can bring much harm. You can’t eliminate anger—and even if you could it would not be the wise thing to do. Regardless of our efforts, there will be situations that will trigger our anger and sometimes it will be justified. You can’t change others and the things they choose to do but you can change how you respond to them.
Life is often filled with painful events and difficult people that can upset our life and fill us with anger. That is why it is best to learn to control anger. Although there are some who say it is best to let your anger out, that is not the best if you are concerned about others as well as your own well being. At the end of the day, your life will be much more peaceful if you learn how to respond to the anger of others as well as to control your own anger.
Control comes when you become a thinker rather than a reactionary. The things that people get upset over are often trivial and with just a little thinking could be avoided. A friend I graduated high school with lived on a small farm near town. His dad owned a few cattle and farmed a little. On the next farm over the owner got upset with my friend’s dad because water was flowing off his land onto his farm and they were in a feud over it. In anger one day the neighbor shot and killed my friend’s dad as he drove his tractor. As a result he spent the rest of his life in prison. Which was the better, to have a little water flow onto your land or spend the rest of your days in prison?
Many a life has been ruined over uncontrollable anger. The person who learns to control his anger early on in life is wise indeed.
Overcoming Hate
Famous quotes on hate
“Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man’s sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.” Martin Luther King
“Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illumines it.”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“Hate is a cancer that spreads one cell at a time.”
Dave Pelzer, Author
Only love defeats hate:
The best way to overcome hate is by loving. Hate is the antithesis of love and only can be defeated by love. War has its origin in hate. Terrorists are haters who want to destroy everyone who disagrees with their warped way of believing.
Hate is so common today. Children sometimes hate their parents; wives sometimes hate their husbands; husbands sometimes hate their wives. Yes there is enough hate to go around ten times over. It truly is like a cancer that destroys its host in time or leaves them an empty shell.
On the other hand love brightens up life and brings vitality and health to any organization or individual. Wonder why hate exists at all since it is so devastating, such an evil monster going about doing its harm and death.
Quotes from Scripture on hate:
“If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” 1 John 4:20
“He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.”
1 John 2:9,10
“Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” 1 John 3:15
“Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?”
Matthew 5:43-47
“He that hateth dissembleth with his lips, and layeth up deceit within him; When he speaketh fair, believe him not: for there are seven abominations in his heart. Whose hatred is covered by deceit, his wickedness shall be shewed before the whole congregation.”
Proverbs 26:24-26
Defeating Bitterness
There is a story told that defines how bitterness affects the person.
“Von Bismarck was the Chancellor of Germany during the First World War. Toward the end of his life he got mired down in the quick sand of bitterness, and never got out. He carried the bile of bitterness into his grave. One morning he got up out of bed and proudly announced to his household, “I have spent the whole night hating.” The burden of bitterness eventually crushed his health. He had to grow a beard to hide the twitching muscles of his face. Jaundice, gastric ulcers, gallstones and shingles racked his body. When he was offered a small fortune to publish his memoirs, he began to write with a reckless disregard for truth, using his pen to spill out the poisonous venom of hatred and bitterness on men and women who had long been dead. Expressing his bitterness became the very thing he lived for, and the very thing that killed him. He died embittered, cynical, lonely, miserable and self-consumed.” *http://sermons.logos.com/submissions/19572#content=/submissions/19572 James P. Dutton
Falling into bitterness is an easy matter but avoiding it can be a very hard matter. All it takes is to have something happen to us that we don’t understand. We then feel that God has shortchanged us by not keeping it away from us. We continue to focus on that thought and pretty soon we fall into the pit of resentment and then it is almost impossible to climb our way out. So we find ourselves in self pity that grows into bitterness and the bitterness hardens and becomes our personality.
Defeating bitterness must start before it gets its hold on us. We must refuse even the thoughts of blaming anyone, especially God. Should we receive any special treatment over anyone else that has to encounter the heartaches of living on this earth? Should we be pampered while others carry the burdens of life? Bad things happen to good people because they are not immune to the events of life.
Jesus our Lord suffered far more than any of us will ever be required to suffer. His disciples were persecuted and finally martyred.
We must avoid all feelings of self pity and bitterness. It is a poison that kills the body and the soul. It is like a disease that finally runs its course when there is nothing remaining but an empty shell of a being.
Conclusion
I don’t believe that it is humanly possible to be fully successful in defeating the 5 emotions I’ve talked about in this article on our very own, but that’s okay because we can be fully successful with God’s help.
Let’s face it, many of life’s battles are too big to win on our own. It is only when we ask God to fight for us that we have victory.
It is up to each of us to decide but when we decide that we want to experience the fullness of life, then God is ready to step in and help to get the job done.
Defeating the emotional issues of life is a daily battle that will go on for the rest of your life. But the good news is that you can have the victory you desire through Jesus the Lord and it is the only way you can ever possibly live the life you want and the one God wants you to live.
If you would like to discover how you can have God on your side in every issue of life, you can by having a relationship with him. READ MORE to learn how.
Visit my company website if you are interested in learning more or would like to join my team in this exciting new adventure: http://otobefree.nerium.com/ : You may also contact me here.
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