To View the Video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/V083lAUEBkw
SHOW NOTES
Welcome back to another week of the Hope Rescue Podcast. If this is your first time here, welcome! We are so glad you have joined us. We are in the middle of a series on mental health, so if you have missed the last few episodes make sure to go back to the start of our series in episode 70.
Tim and Kimberly begin the episode by discussing how to take control of your emotions. It is impossible to control your emotions with other emotions. Emotions don't have intelligence. They do one of two things: they either respond or react. There is a large difference between reacting and responding, and we are responsible for how we behave to stimuli. If we are not in control of our emotions, we may spiral when exposed to triggering stimuli and react in an unhealthy way. Our blood pressure may rise, we may yell, or we may even become aggressive. If we are in control of our emotions, when we experience something triggering, we will respond in a healthy manner with calm communication.
Tim points us to scripture and explains that in Hebrew there is actually no word for emotion. The Hebrew word “kilyah” means kidney, and it was the closest word to emotions used in the bible. In Hebrew tradition, the kidneys are associated with the most inner parts of our emotions. In the Old Testament the kidneys are primarily used as metaphor for the core of the person. For example, in Exodus 29:13, it says, “And you shall take all the fat that covers the entrails, and the long lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar.” The word used for kidneys in Exodus is the same word used in Psalm 26:2 for the word mind. Psalm 26:2 says, “Prove me, O Lord, and try me; test my heart and my mind.” This Hebrew word for kidney is used in many other places in the bible to represent the heart, mind, and emotions. For example, in Job 19:27, Psalm 16:7, Psalm 139:13, and Proverbs 23:16.
Although we know more about human anatomy now than was known when the Old Testament was written, the kidneys are still a perfect metaphor for describing our emotions. What do the kidneys do for our bodies? Their main function is to remove waste products and excess fluid from the body. They also filter blood before sending it back to the heart. On top of each of our kidneys sit our adrenal glands. They produce many different hormones we need to survive, and these hormones are responsible for all the physiological characteristics of the stress response, or the 'fight or flight' response.
When your emotions are working in a healthy manner, they selectively reabsorb what is valuable and they excrete what is not valuable. Like our kidneys, we have to learn to filter and sort through stimuli that we encounter every day.
Tim and Kimberly continue by explaining three ways people can try to control their emotions: environmental modification, behavior modification, and exchange modification.
Environmental modification is just what it sounds like: when a person tries to modify their environment in hopes it will change their emotions. For example, if a person is feeling mad or upset about their job or home life, they may take a vacation to escape, hoping it will boost their mood. But it is exactly that, a temporary escape from reality.
Behavior modification is when a person tries to control their emotions by simply changing their behavior. They may think, “If I stop doing ___, I will feel better.” The problem with this solution is that it doesn’t go deep enough. If you haven't changed your belief system or your thinking, behavior modification is just another temporary solution.
Exchange modification is when a person tries to control their emotions by exchanging lies with truth. This concept will work and bring peace into your life. It is a long term solution, and the concept can be used every day for the rest of your life because it is practical and biblical. Any time we are stopped in our tracks by negative stimuli, our minds might start racing and spiraling to dark places. Before we spiral, we have to remember what is true and what are lies.
If you don’t know you are believing lies, here is an example of what they may look like:
You have gone too far for God.
You will never find peace or happiness.
You are not good enough.
You are a lost cause.
The Lord doesn’t care about you.
Here are some ultimate truths we can find in the bible.
God always wants to hear from you.
God's plans involve hope and joy, not fear.
God loves you.
With Christ's sacrifice, you always have a path back to God.
You have access to God through the Holy Spirit.
You have been adopted into the family of God.
You cannot be separated from the love of God.
Until you allow the Word of God to change what you believe to be true, trying your hardest to be good, reading your bible, and showing up to church will not be enough. Believing the ultimate truths in the Bible will change the way you think, which changes your emotions, which changes your behavior. Join us next week as we continue the conversation on mental health and anxiety. We love you guys!
QUOTES
“When your emotions are working in a healthy manner, they selectively reabsorb what is valuable and they excrete what is not valuable.” -Tim
“Until you allow the Word of God to change what you believe to be true, trying your hardest to be good, reading your bible, and showing up to church will not be enough.” -Tim
REFERENCED SCRIPTURE
Exodus 29:13 “And you shall take all the fat that covers the entrails, and the long lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar.”
Psalm 26:2 “Prove me, O Lord, and try me; test my heart and my mind.”
Job 19:27 “whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!”
Psalm 16:7 “I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.”
Psalm 139:13 “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb.”
Proverbs 23:16 “My inmost being will exult when your lips speak what is right.”
Psalm 73:23-26 “Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
