I just saw a clip on YouTube about an animated movie called ‘Inside Out.’ The way the movie portrays emotions captivated me instantly.
In the movie, a little girl’s emotions come to the forefront due to change in her life.
The movie personifies each of the girl’s emotions:
Since human beings are created in God’s image, we have emotions just as God has emotions. The Bible says that God experiences joy, grief, anger, and disgust too.
However while God’s emotions are righteous and based upon truth, our emotions are sometimes not.
Sometimes, our emotions are based upon lying thoughts, those that contradict God’s word. That is why it is important that we learn to manage our emotions and ensure that our actions honor our Father.
I decided to study what the Bible says about God’s emotions and what situations led Him to experience them. We can learn great lessons from God’s emotions because they tell us what pleases God – and what does not:
Joy
God takes great joy when a sinner repents and comes to the saving knowledge of His Son, Jesus Christ. He is also joyful when His people obey His word and operate in wisdom.
- “I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance (Luke 15:7).”
- “The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing (Zephaniah 3:17).”
- “The Lord your God will make you abound in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your land for good. For the Lord will again rejoice over you for good as He rejoiced over your fathers, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul (Deuteronomy 30:9-10).”
Grief
While the Bible doesn’t describe God being sad, it does describe Him as experiencing grief. Grief goes beyond sadness. It is a deep sorrow, a sense of loss such as when someone dies.
Because the wages of sin is death, then God’s grief is always associated with sin. God desires that all men be saved and come to knowledge of the truth (see 1 Timothy 2:4). Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (see John 14:16).
Those who do not receive salvation through Jesus Christ are lost and lost people grieve God’s heart.
- “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart (Genesis 6:5-6).”
- “When your fathers tested Me; They tried Me, though they saw My work. For forty years I was grieved with that generation, And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts, And they do not know My ways (Psalm 95:9-10).’”
- “He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him (Isaiah 53:3 – prophecy about Jesus the Messiah). “
Anger
All of the scriptures I found about God’s anger and wrath were in the Old Testament. God was angry when His people despised His blessings and practiced idolatry instead. In ancient days, people literally made themselves gods to worship out of wood, stone, silver or gold.
Today, our idols can be anything that we put first in our lives to take God’s rightful place. This can be money, material possessions, food, or even another person.
In the New Testament, you see instances of Jesus’ anger such as when He drove out the money changers from the temple. Instead of the temple being a house of prayer, the money changers had turned it into a house of merchandise (see John 2:13-17).”
Jesus was also angry with the Pharisees’ injustices. They were more concerned with upholding their traditions and high position rather than alleviating their fellow man’s sufferings.
Injustice angers God.
Jesus took on the sins of mankind at the cross and has provided atonement for sin for those who accept Him as Savior.
However, God’s wrath awaits those who align themselves with His enemy because they have chosen not to believe in the Son of God.
- “So they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, made for themselves a molded image and two calves, made a wooden image and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. And they caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and soothsaying, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger. Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them from His sight; there was none left but the tribe of Judah alone (2 Kings 17:16-18).”
- “Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God ( Ezekiel 22:31).”
- “Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they kept silent. And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him (Mark 3:4-6).”
Disgust
God experienced disgust with the Israelites’ idolatrous practices. He associated such practices with pollution, stink, and filth.
In ancient days, these practices often involved temple prostitution, sexual depravity, and child sacrifice.
- “And first I will repay double for their iniquity and their sin, because they have defiled My land; they have filled My inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable and abominable idols (Ezekiel 5:11)
- ‘Therefore, as I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘surely, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore I will also diminish you; My eye will not spare, nor will I have any pity (Jeremiah 16:18)”
- “Thus says the Lord God: ‘Because your filthiness was poured out and your nakedness uncovered in your harlotry with your lovers, and with all your abominable idols, and because of the blood of your children which you gave to them, surely, therefore, I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved, and all those you hated; I will gather them from all around against you and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness. And I will judge you as women who break wedlock or shed blood are judged; I will bring blood upon you in fury and jealousy (Ezekiel 16:36-38).”
The only emotion that God does not have that was portrayed in the film is fear. Why? God is love. 1 John 4:18 explains: “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.”
As the people of God, we are called to have the fear of the Lord, but that is not the quaking in your boots kind of fear. Rather, it is of reverencing, honoring, and respecting God enough to do what He says.
The reason is that God loves us and gave us His best:
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).”
Because God gave us His best, then we should give Him our best.
I hope these scriptures have given you insight into what gladdens and grieves God’s heart. In this way, you can order your actions so that you please the One who created you and loves you so much.
Be blessed in health, healing, and wholeness,
Kimberly Taylor
Author/Christian Life Coach of the ‘Take Back Your Temple’ program
https://takebackyourtemple.com/program
P.S. Are you ready to grow stronger Spiritually and heal emotionally as you reach your “feel good” weight? Let the Take Back Your Temple program be your guide. God’s way is change from the inside out and once you are changed His way, you are never the same!
Click here to learn more about the Take Back Your Temple program
What a wonderful lesson plan for God’s children of any age.Thank you and may God bless you.
Thank you, Nana – I appreciate that feedback!
Dear Kimberly,
I cannot thank you enough for the emails you are sending me. I appreciate it more than I can say! I feel like a failure because I have not been able to give up the sugar, and I know what Jesus gave up for me, so I keep asking Him why can’t I do this for Him? Does this mean I don’t really love Him and trust Him ? The Bible says I can do nothing without Jesus! But that I can do all things thru Him. I am 76 years old and have struggled with this most of my life. I truly desire to be like Jesus and to live my life completely for Him, but this sugar sin seems to really have a hold on me. It is a sin for me because sugar hurts me, makes me sick and causes me to be depressed. I know how satan works on Christians, but I know, too, that “He who is in me is greater than he who is in the world.”
Did you ever feel this way when you were still in the sin over food?
I pray God will continue to bless you, and you are a blessing to all of your readers. The LORD is using you in a mighty way, Kimberly! Thank you so much.
Hi Susie,
I am praying for you. I hear condemnation all in this post and that is NOT want God wants for you. He is about restoration, not condemnation. You said that sugar hurts you, makes you sick, and makes you depressed. I’ve got two questions for you: If you did not have sugar in your life, what would your life look like? I want you to paint me a picture from the time you wake up until the time you go to bed. Can you see your life without the sugar in it?
Also, what do you fear will happen if you limited sugar in your life? Satan’s methods are predictable. One of his favorite methods of control is fear. Sugar in itself is not a sin; gluttony is and sugar tends to make you hungrier, which can lead to gluttony.
What about “Jesus wept” for sadness and where would you put Jesus sweating drops of blood when he was in the Garden of Gethsemane before he was taken to be tried? Certainly some kind of discomfort. He pleaded 3 times for there to be another way to save man from their sins. Great articles. Truly enjoyed it. I knew he experienced what we did but didn’t think of some of the things you wrote about.
Hi Sue – I appreciate your comment. You made me think! I actually thought about “Jesus wept,” but because it didn’t specifically say He wept for sadness, I didn’t include it. So that’s why I left that one out. However, I just remembered when Jesus lamented over Jerusalem, which is akin to grief. Matthew 23:37 and and Luke 13:34 – “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!”
Your article was very eye opening. Knowing the emotions of God provides insight of what He disapproves. This article made me question what do I put before God. Do I behave like the Pharisees? I have struggled with being overweight all my life. Am I putting food before God? This article makes you ask the hard questions. After losing weight and keeping it off for a few years, I had stroke, lost some of the mobility on my right side and could no longer run to keep in shape. 40lbs later, I’ve been wondering what to do. I realize I have to change my portion size because of the lack of mobility. However, it’s been very very difficult. Now I see that it’s a choice. The Isrealites chose to disobey God, and we have to choose daily who we are going to be a servant to. Great article!
Thanks for your comment, Tonya. Yes, it can be difficult to change habits, especially if it is a habit you’ve practiced for a long time! But the good news is that God never asks you to do anything that He doesn’t give you power to do. You have that power through the Holy Spirit. You can do it one day at a time, one choice at a time. Plenty of practice – just like the old habit 🙂
Ask the Lord in prayer for His wisdom as to the steps you need to take to make this happen because you want His best for you. I know He will honor your request because He promised to (James 1:5)
I do not agree that grief is always associated with sin. Sometimes the grief is out of your control like a miscarriage, loss of a child, or loss of a close loved one. I don’t see how this correlates.
Moriah – the article focused on the emotions of God and when the Bible said He that grieved. That is different from the reasons a person grieves. Of course, you and I grieve as people when we lose someone we love/care about. That is natural and normal as human beings. You are right – the reason a person grieves may have nothing to do with sin.