(taken from "Fit to be Tied" by Bill and Lynne Hybels chapter 11 "Living in Crisis Mode")
The Christian community has a pretty good track record for ignoring the emotional side of life.…....
Most Christian look at only one gauge: the spiritual one. They assume if they are sincerely walking with Christ, if they are praying and receiving sound teaching, if they are worshiping publicly and privately, then everything is okay.
A few Christian go a step further and check out the physical gauge. They believe, as we do, that part of Christian obedience, part of making ourselves fully available for God’s use, is to take care of their bodies. ….. They are convinced that if they keep the spiritual and physical gauges in order they will be able to work hard, stand firm, and win the battles until the day they die.
But as crucial as those gauges are, there is a third gauge, THE EMOTIONAL GAUGE, and neglecting to pay attention to it has been the downfall of many spiritually strong and physically healthy people. ……………
The emotional depletion eventually produces a shrinking heart. This is a heart that does not worship as authentically as it once did, or loves God as passionately as it used to. It is a heart that no longer sensitive to the needs of others, a heart that has lost the fire of compassion. ………………..
Emotional depletion also leaves us vulnerable to sin. People who are emotionally exhausted, or whose emotions have been neglected, begin to cry out on a psychological level for comfort, for release, for escape, for something that will make them feel good or satiate their senses. They begin to crave quick hits of pleasure. They are lured by temptations that had never tempted them before. Activities they had never considered suddenly become live options. ………………
The sad thing about emotional depletion is that it makes sincere, godly people act as if they are “out of their minds”. It twists personalities and alters behavior to the point where people become unrecognizable to co-workers, friends and spouses. Ultimately, it drives people to hurt those they love the most. ………………
We tend to view recreational as a luxury, as something to engage in if we have nothing or productive to do. …………. But, far from being a luxury, it may be a necessary antidote to chronic emotional fatigue…
Are your emotional batteries low? Has your heart shrunk? Do you think you might be heading for a crash? ………
Don’t rush from emotionally draining to the next. Don’t live so fast that you never have time for replenishing recreation or relationships. Don’t neglect your need to trickle charge!
Perhaps you, too, need to make some radical change in your life. Maybe you need to revise your job description. …. Maybe you need to resign from that board or drop that extra class. Another answer may be to refuse to take on so many projects, …or downscale your goals. …………………
How good, after all, is an opportunity that throws you into emotional depletion?
How great is a lifestyle that never gives you time to enjoy life?
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." - Jesus Christ -
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