Knowing oneself is not quite as easy as it appears. It depends not least on how often we examine ourselves: our behaviour, motivations, actions and reactions, etc. Important is this respect is the degree and extent to which we examine our emotions: how certain emotions have come about, how we have reacted to them, and so forth.



The Passing Importance Of Emotions

We very often, perhaps without thinking things through, regard the emotional stimuli we receive in our lives as more important than frequently it should be regarded.

Emotion is often both transitory and accidental. It is transitory in that the experience is a passing one: tomorrow, next week, next year it will be gone and, even when not forgotten, will only be a small factor in our lives. It is accidental in that the circumstances in which it developed could have been different: if we had not done what we did, gone where we were.

The Need To Examine Our Emotions

We need to examine our emotions in just the same way as we might examine what our senses tell us. If we think we see something, we might well look again to make sure that what we have observed is what is actually there. Perhaps without being aware of it, we often re-hear what we think we have heard before deciding on its nature. No one would doubt the sensibility of this kind of checking-out. It is part of the normal pattern of behaviour of sensible people. Unfortunately, however, where emotions are concerned, what is normal is often anything but spiritual.

When we allow ourselves to react to our emotions, it is, in fact, very often hurt pride to which we are reacting. We can legitimately take pride in many things, such as in the quality of some work that we do which has value for others, and which we desire to benefit them. But the kind of pride which feeds our own self importance is spiritually dangerous: it is like a system of land mines hidden under the surface of the battlefield of spiritual warfare.

Examination As Spiritual Warfare

Spiritual warfare is almost entirely seen as warfare against Satan and his hoards. Often it is, but it is also spiritual warfare, albeit of a different kind, to combat our own failings, faults of which Satan might try to take advantage, but which are often the cause of explosive damage to our spirituality, initiated by ourselves against ourselves! And pride is frequently the detonator! Remove the pride of self importance and the explosive is rendered harmless.

We must not allow our emotions to dictate our behaviour. They are part of the soul (= mind, will and emotions) and our soul should be subject to our spirit, and our spirit should be subject only to the Holy Spirit, who is our Counsellor and the one who stands beside us as our Guide in all things:

?If you love me, you will obey what I command.

16:And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor to be with you for ever -17:the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. (John 14:15 - 17, NIV)

The Need For Guidance

The Holy Spirit is there to guide us in every detail of our life. When others injure us, for example, or if we find ourselves in a traumatic and disturbing situation, we should ask the Holy Spirit what our reaction should be ? but being careful that it is the Holy Spirit who is answering. It is all too easy to hear ourselves telling ourselves what we want ourselves to hear. In times when distress is too great for us to be sure of what we are hearing, we can turn, for their prayful advice, to friends with a similar kind of spirituality, and therefore of understanding of that part of our situation.

Again, we need to be careful who we ask ? even among our Christian friends. No one is invincible and anyone can fall to their own self interests and predilections. Often it will be possible to select a friend whose advice we really know is going to be biased in the direction which we favour. We would be more honest with ourselves not to bother at all than to allow this to happen. Choose someone who is trustworthy, on whom we know we can depend, and who has no inbuilt leaning one way or another. In addition, whenever possible, defer any decision until your own state of mind is again completely stable; then pray as intensively and extensively as is necessary to acquire confidence that the Spirit is indeed directing one.