Where did we get the idea that it’s possible to be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature? How did we slice out the emotional portion of who we are, deeming it suspect, irrelevant, or of secondary importance to our relationship with God? Why do we value the spiritual over every other aspect of our God-given humanity – the physical, emotional, social, and intellectual?
In this podcast I explore the gaps in our theology that have caused such a tragic state of affairs in the church.
I had been a Christian for seventeen years when I discovered the link between spiritual and emotional health. The spiritual-discipleship approaches of the ministries that had shaped my faith did not have the language, theology, or training to help me in this area. It didn’t matter how many years passed, whether seventeen or another fifty. I would remain an emotional infant until the emotional component of God’s image in me was transformed through Jesus.
Sadly, many Christian leaders I meet today have little to no awareness of their feelings. When I ask them how they feel, they may use the words, “I feel,” but in actuality they report only a statement of fact or of what they think. Their body language, tone of voice, and facial expressions indicate that emotions are present, but they are not aware enough to identify or articulate them.
This podcast also outlines the core components of integrating emotional health into our discipleship and leadership development – from embracing grief and loss, to integrating limits, to exploring our families of origin going back three to four generations, to learning new skills to love well.
Finally, let me invite you to take our free personal assessment on our website at www.emotionallyhealthy.org/mature to see if you are an emotional infant, child, adolescent or adult. This powerful tool has been used by countless people around the world to both get started on the EH Discipleship journey and to evaluate their progress along the way.
Enjoy!
Pete
