God on the Go: New Feelings

Human emotions are complex AND also a gift from God. This week we’re talking about experiencing conflicting emotions, embracing them and discussing them, even if they are new or confusing, is so important.

What’s New!

Monday Bible Story:

• God created our feelings.

Tuesday Key Verse:

• Ezekiel 36: 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

Wednesday Prayer:

• God, thank you for my feelings. Thank you that I can feel happy, I can feel sad, I can laugh, I can be bored. Thank you for giving me all these different feelings for living in this world. Please help me live well with my feelings and to treat others well, even when I feel angry or upset. In the name of Jesus, amen.

Thursday Question:

• What is a time you’ve felt a new feeling?

Friday Fun Fact:

• Q: What should you do with a new feeling?
• A: Talk about it!

 Special thanks to George Fox University for sponsoring the God on the Go Podcast!

Show Notes:

To get this week’s episode and daily text prompts, text the word Go to 89419. If you are in Canada, text GodOntheGo to 866-729-1065

Transcription:

I’m Julie Lyles Carr, and this is God on the Go from the Purposely Podcast Network, where I’m here to help you make the minutes mattered. One day I got a huge surprise. I got home from school and there was a little puppy at my house. My mom and dad had surprised us and they had gotten my brothers and me a new dog. I was thrilled. I laughed and I giggled and I felt so much joy. And I also cried, and I was also a little sad. Why? Well, because several months before this, the dog our family had had for a long time passed away. And so, when I saw this new little puppy, I was so happy. But I was also sad because I missed the dog we’d had for such a long time. It was confusing to feel such big emotions at the same time. Being happy and sad at the same time felt like a completely new feeling. A feeling I hadn’t felt before. So, I have a question for you. Have you ever felt a feeling you’ve never felt before? What was it like? Maybe you felt excited, but you were also scared. Maybe you were happy, but also a little nervous. Maybe you were a little sad, but you were also grateful.

Here’s another time I felt some new feelings. One of my brothers made me really mad one time, but then he also made me laugh at the same time by acting really goofy. And that was a whole new feeling, being angry, but also getting cracked up. Here’s the thing. God created all our emotions in the Bible. There are lots of places that talk about God and his feelings. There are verses that talk about how much God loves us. There are places that talk about God becoming angry when people don’t treat each other the way they should. There are times when God laughs. There are times when God is sad. God created you to have all kinds of feelings. Feelings are good, and sometimes you’re going to feel feelings you haven’t felt before. Ezekiel 36, verse 26 says,

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

This verse is talking about how God can give us a new way of looking at things and feeling things when we give our lives to Him. When you walk with God, He’s going to show you things you’ve never seen before. When you live for God, He’s going to take you on adventures and you’re going to experience emotions that are brand new to you. And in all of it, God is there. So, what do you do when you’re feeling a feeling haven’t felt before, and you’re not too sure what to do about it? Talk about it. Tell your mom or dad about the new feeling you’ve had. Tell them what was happening when you had this new feeling.

Talking about our feelings helps us understand them better. Your mom and dad might even be able to help you think up a word that explains your new feeling. Whenever you start something new like school or when you have a new friend or a new activity, you’ll probably have some new feelings to go with it. Feelings are a great gift from God because they let us live lives that are full of different experiences. Now, not all feelings feel good, but God gave us our feelings for our good. So, talk about your feelings and feel your feelings. After all, God made you like him and he has lots of feelings, especially love for you. My feeling would be that I would be so excited and I’d love for you to text the word go, that’s the word, GO to 89419, and I’ll send you some awesome stuff, including discussion questions from today’s podcast, a memory verse and other goodies to help you with your new feelings.

God on the go is sponsored by George Fox University, where each student will be known personally, academically and spiritually. I’ll see you next week.