Emotions 101

Are you a mature woman of God? How do you know?

We all have room for improvement. But, you should not be the same woman you were ten years ago, five years ago even one year ago. In fact, you should grow each and every day. We should continually be beseeching the Holy Spirit to mold us, to change us into the women He has called us to be.

Last time we took a look at gossip. This week, I want to look at something every one of us must deal with, and that is our emotions.



First of all, there are all kinds of emotions. There is fear, anger, happiness, sadness, anticipation, disgust, surprise and trust. They can be used in the manner in which God created them, or they can be used in the manner the enemy has distorted them. Not only do we have to contend with the enemy’s manipulation of our emotions, but we must also deal with our flesh. And most often, our flesh is our own worst enemy.

Our emotions are strong and I’m not saying our emotions are bad. God created us as emotional beings. Our emotions enable us to feel compassion and unconditional love. Because of our emotions we can show empathy. Our emotions allow us to cry with a friend when she’s down or be brokenhearted when someone we know is hurt.

Check your negative emotions at the door. I mean, the bathroom door right after you’ve gotten up. A mature woman of God has learned to control, or recognizes her need to control her emotions.



She won’t use tears to get what she wants. She won’t blow up at her friend. She won’t yell and scream at her children. She won’t take out her anger on her husband just because he’s “safe.” She will respond appropriately when wronged. She will give the benefit of the doubt. She will try and find out what is wrong. She will not connive or construe to get her way.

True, there is no perfect woman, but a woman who is seeking after the heart of God will continually be working on being more like Christ. She will not set out to do those things mentioned above. Yes, she will make mistakes, but more often than not, lashing out at those she loves will hurt her more than the person on the receiving end.

So many times we women allow our emotions to govern us. As my daughter reached a certain age, I began to explain to her the importance of controlling our emotions and not letting our emotions control us.

When my emotions are controlling me, I am easily offended. When I am in control of my emotions, more often than not I see things for what they are. I am walking in discernement rather than allaboutmement.

The first step in becoming who God is calling us to be is realizing we are not there yet, that we still have changes that need to be made. I challenge you to look at yourself. Scrutinize yourself. And be honest with yourself.

Every now and again I have to beat some emotion that is threatening to show its ugly head with a stick. Yes, we all do. The key is…being honest enough to admit it and then do something about it.


Do you control your emotions? Or do you allow them to control you?

Together, we will become mature women of God!

Are You a Mature Woman of God?

What is the role of a mature woman of God? How is she to act? What is her disposition?



Specifically I want to deal with these questions as they pertain to the church and how we as mature Christian women should act as role models. As women who have been in Christ for many years, we should be easily recognized as mature women of God. There should be no behavior that is indicative of us being babes in Christ.

Today, I want to address the issue of gossip. This is not new. I have written about this before. But some subjects need periodical reviewing. It is easy to fall in to this habit and not find our way out of it. If you call yourself a mature woman of God, gossip should never be on your lips.

What is gossip? Here it is by definition: Rumor or talk of a personal, sensational, or intimate nature.
A person who habitually spreads intimate or private rumors or facts. (notice, this doesn't say whether or not the details have to be true or false, it matters not!)


Gossip within the church brings about animosity, hard feelings and divisiveness. The word tells us in Titus chapter 3 verse 10 “Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him.” Anyone being divisive in the church body should be addressed immediately. This behavior is uncalled for and needs to be stopped before it divides the church.

I have had the occasion of seeing mature Christian women in the church teaching the younger newly saved women of the church the wicked art of gossip. In my opinion, this is the absolute worst offense of the gossiper. What we teach those who come after us we will be held accountable for. Not only will our gossip spread like wildfire and destroy many lives, but the gossip that continues on through our line of gossip descendants will also be upon our heads.

Here is what the word of God says that we mature believers should be teaching the newly saved women in our church, notice this list does not include gossip or being divisive:



Titus 2:3-5 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 4 Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

Here are some more verses about the wicked art of gossip.



Proverbs 16:28 “a dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends.”

Proverbs 11:13 “whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered.”

Proverbs 6:16-19 “there are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.”

Did you hear that last verse? If you are gossiping you are sowing discord among the brothers and that is something that God hates. Hate is a strong word. Do you really want to be associated with something that God hates?

James 1:26 says this “if anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.”

One hurtful word, one line of gossip can undo all the good that has been done. If you volunteer in church, if you feed the poor, if you love the helpless and the hopeless, and yet you spread gossip all of the former will be forgotten. Gossip is what you will be known by. Divisiveness will be the clothes you wear.

Don’t allow gossip to destroy who you are in Christ. If you find yourself prone to talk about other people do yourself a favor and clamp your lips shut.

Life Coaching...Life Changing

Recently I have had the opportunity to develop a friendship with a wonderful life coach, Terri Babers.



She reigns from the great state of Alaska and has had me journaling about life. My world...meet Terri. Terri, meet my world.

This past week I was prompted to look at the relationships in my life and how they relate to my dreams. I posted the following as a reply. My husband encouraged me to share this post with you all!



"Friendships are extremely important to me. I thrive on interaction and find I get pretty down if I do not have that "certain" friend to chat with.

For the first 6 months or so, after moving to Oklahoma, I felt isolated. I had not yet developed close friendships and while I still maintain my relationships from back home, it just isn't the same from a distance.

My husband and I are careful about who we surround ourselves with. We distanced ourselves from what we call toxic family and friends long ago. Not that we don't love them, we just don't love the impact they have upon us.



My husband is my best friend, my cheerleader and my realist. Although I must say, realist is a stretch as we are both dreamers. We encourage one another in accomplishing our goals and in some ways we are opposites. This keeps us balanced. He is my thinker-through-er and I am his spontaneity. Even with his realist tendencies, he is a dreamer through and through.

When you dream big, when you dream in living 3-D color, not many people understand. Finding people to actually relate to your dream is next to impossible. For a people person like myself, I have found myself associating with people who support me dreaming although they may not understanding the dream itself. They are still encouraging to the point they are a positive influence and not a drain of my energy and my focus."

If you are interested in ten weeks of free journaling with Terri, head to her website.

Here you go:

http://www.positive-changes-coach.com/