Emotionally Healthy Relationships – Week 2

Message Series – Emotionally Healthy Relationships

We grow in self-awareness by honestly examining our emotions and motivations.

Which is your favorite book or movie based on a true story?
To have emotionally healthy relationships, we have to deal with what is below the surface. We have to honestly examine and address our emotions so that we can be free to love the people in our lives fully. Being self-aware means knowing and understanding your emotions and motivations.

Read Matthew 22:37-39. Most of us are familiar with these words from Jesus. How do you feel when you reflect on these commands?
Read Matthew 23:13, Luke 10:21, 10:41, 22:41, 43-44. In all of these scriptures, you can find Christ taken with emotion; they reflect some of the same emotions we experience. Do you ever find yourself expressing an emotion differently from what you are truly feeling?
Read Ephesians 4:15. How can we express our emotions from a place of love for ourselves and our fellows?

The truth is our relationships are a lot like an iceberg. Maybe 10% of what is going on lies at the surface. This is what we say and what we do. However, every one of us has stuff going on below the surface. Most of our emotions and motivations lie below the surface, and many times we are unaware of them. Have you experienced emotions come up, which you hadn’t realized you were feeling?
As Christ-followers, our goal is to become more like Jesus, and that means becoming more self-aware. Being aware of the emotions we experience and not just what shows on the surface, but what’s behind them. This exercise is not about becoming self-absorbed; actually, it’s quite the opposite. Have you taken any steps to become more self-aware?

Daily Self-Awareness. Here are two questions to ask yourself every day, and maybe, even write them in a daily journal and then write a response.

How am I feeling right now? There are a few primary emotions you may be able to identify, but if you need help, check out the Junto Emotional Wheel here.
Why am I feeling this way? Often, it will become clear that it goes back to a previous experience or interaction. It may be you are experiencing those emotions due to one of the underlying feelings we often try to avoid.